


Mass Effect: Memoirs

by moon_goddess_118



Series: The Shepard Saga [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/M, Gun Violence, Half-Human, Human Experimentation, Human Trafficking, Kidnapping, Knife Violence, Outer Space, Parent Death, Romance, Separate Childhoods, Space Flight, Space Stations, Torture, Trauma, Turians, Young Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 05:37:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 37,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5485568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moon_goddess_118/pseuds/moon_goddess_118
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before she was a Commander and the First human Spectre, Mikaela Shepard was a normal farm girl back in Mindoir. She had a loving mother, a patient father and a reliable brother. Mikaela was living a normal and peaceful life until the Batarian Pirates came to Mindoir, kidnapping and slaughtering all the farmers on the planet. She was almost kidnapped by a group of Batarians until she was saved by the turian Spectre, Saren Arterius, who was traveling with the passing Alliance cruiser. <br/>Follow Mikaela as she tries to stay out of two groups who are after her and her twin sister and as she enters the Alliance to become the woman she is destined to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One: The Lost of Innocence on Mindoir.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel to the Mass Effect trilogy. Well, it's base on my walk-through

 

**Chapter One**

**Late Morning,**

**Mindoir**

**Attican Traverse**

It’s not easy being life’s own personal joke, but sixteen-years-old Mikaela Shepard has made an unstable peace with the beast. And how was she life’s personal joke? Well for starters, she had biotic powers. And man was she surprised by that! She didn’t know what had happened, so it had scared her to the point of screaming and crying. It happened when she was four years old, she had accidently shattered a tree with it, when she was angry for falling from the branch.  Her grandmother had heard her screaming and crying, and had rushed to her aide, only to find a frightened four-year-old and a shattered tree.

At first the only person who knew about her biotic abilities was her grandmother, as Mikaela was frightened by it when she first used it. She could still remember her grandmother shushing her softly as she was rocked within the warm, strong embrace of her grandmother. Her grandmother tried her best to help Mikaela but eventually she learned that she couldn’t help her to the best of her abilities and had to reveal the secret to her parents and the family doctor.

No one knew how she was developing biotic powers, both her parents weren’t expose to the dust-form element zero, so it bluffed the doctors, especially since her older brother didn’t get it either.

Mikaela sighed as she was lying on top of the roof of the porch as she could hear yelling from down the dirt road. That old hag, Mrs. Medousa had come over to complain to the local sheriff, her father, that she had used her biotic powers on her grandson and hurt him.

 _”I wouldn’t have to if that asshole didn’t try to force himself on me.”_ Mikaela thought as she raised her hand up and watched as the pale blue-purplish mist-like light formed around her hand and down her forearm. _“Boy talk about between a rock and a tight place, I wasn’t expecting him to do that.”_

He had cornered her at school and tried to mess with her, Mikaela was surprise by that but she didn’t let her surprisement to stop her from using her biotic to levitate his ass and gave him a right hook that would have done Chuck Norris proud.

Mikaela watched it for a moment before sighing, the light vanishing from her skin. _“but this is exactly why I don’t date guys….well, that and something else is prevent me from dating them actually.”_

Mikaela crossed her arms under her head. _” Sometimes I can control it, sometimes I can’t. Man, this thing is about as easy to tame as a mustang.”_

Mikaela sat up and looked around her as she took in a deep breath of fresh air; no matter how many times she comes up here in order to take in the view and fresh air, Mikaela could never get over that she and her family lived on such a peaceful colony. The vast and endless spread of land before her was breathtaking beautiful, nothing but green rolling hills and tall and mighty oak trees. A brook flow ran through the thick blanket of oak trees that was behind the barn.

Mikaela had explored every nook and cranny of her family land; every time she thought she was finish exploring it, she would find something new and wondrous. That was how she found her secret spot; it was hidden deep in the forest. Climb over a large hill made only of large boulders and sand. Walk across a fallen tree that hangs over the river that she and her brother swim in. The forest path would open up a little, so that one could see a large weeping willow hanging over a medium sized pond that was surrounded by thick patches of rods. There’s was a large yet flat stone hanging over the pond water that was only held in place by the dirt below and the trunk of the weeping willow.

Mikaela had found it one day, alone of course, because it wouldn’t be a secret if her brother played as a tag-along. She went there every day, taking lunches, snacks and drinks that her mother had prepared for her. She spent hours there, watching the dragonflies dance atop of the water surface and listened to the birds chirping above her.

Mikaela was snapped from her thoughts when she heard that old hag shrieking. _“Man, it’s too early in the day for the crap.”_

Mikaela stood up, dusting off her bottom as she walked towards the edge of the porch roof and peered over the edge. She shrugged her shoulders and jumped off, activing her biotic powers and allowing it to levitate her gently to the ground below.

 _“The first two times, I was kissing the ground. Now, I’m able to gracefully land. Eat your heart out, cats.”_ Mikaela grinned as she dusted her hands against each other once she landed on the ground safety and without humiliating herself again. _“I can levitate myself gracefully to the ground but levitating myself up and I find myself in the damn trees.”_

Mikaela preferred to embarrass herself alone but there was times that her brother would come into the picture to only see her kissing the ground hard and he would laugh uproariously until Mikaela kicked him the shin and he would chase after her as she tried to live for another day. Then he would catch her and wrestle with her to the ground until their mother would come in and scold her brother while Mikaela make her quick escape to the exit.

Mikaela walked towards the barn that was standing to the right and back of the house, following the pebbled path that her grandfather had made after he had settled down here from retiring from the Alliance military.

It was built to be large for two reasons: One, it’s where her father fixed the machines and vehicles that tends to the corps or make items worn or used. And the second, the hayloft doesn’t store hay or other fodder for the animals below. It instead was a dance studio for both her mother and Mikaela, her father rebuilt it in order to give his wife the space to practice her classical dance and rhythmic gymnastics and to teach her daughter the same thing she was taught.

Mikaela love to dance; it helped unleash all of her energy and calm down her temper. She takes to it like fish to water, it was the only time that she was graceful and had perfect balance, as she was accident-prone when she wasn’t dancing.  She was surprise that she never had a concussion growing up from all the times that she whacked her head on something.

Mikaela climbed up the ladder once she entered the barn and looked around her dance studio and walked over to her stereo that was set at the corner of the wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling mirrors. She crouched down before it and pulled out the console pad that was linked to it.

Mikaela scrolled through the songs and clicked on a song that always helped her to become lost in the song. It was the upbeat version of _‘Hush, Hush; Hush, Hush’_ , the one with _‘I will survivor’_ song into it, by the Pussycat dolls from centuries ago.

She stood up and pressed play. As the song started, Mikaela immediately started off as a Professional Ballerina. Her moves graceful and loose but as the song kicked up, she immediately switched into a Professional Street Dancer with a little belly dancing and rhythmic gymnastics mixed into there.

This was Mikaela’s talent, her own dance skill. She had expert with this and insert it into her classical dance and found that this form of dance suited her for one reason only.

She made it, she created it and she perfected it.

Mikaela never liked to follow the rules or teaching of those around her, and that included her parents. Her mother had her doing classical dancing and rhythmic gymnast since she was five-years-old, when her flexibility was still there.

As Mikaela spun around in one spot, she spotted her brother sitting on the floor behind her, watching her dance. She immediately stop, her chest heaving in order to get breath into her starving lungs.

Mikaela walked towards her brother, panting for breath, as Damien held up a hand towel for her. She took it from him and sat down next to him, wiping the sweat off her face. Damien raised his arm up and laid it across her shoulder, and brought her against his side.

Damien was twenty-one-years-old and even though he was her older brother, he was her only best friend as her personality and biotic abilities had made her an outcast among their colony. This was fine with Mikaela, as she couldn’t stand the stupidity of those known as human boys and girls her own age.

Damien is a very handsome man with a triangular-shaped face with a definitive jaw line and accentuated cheekbones. He has faint stubble on his jaw and his chin; and above and around his lips. He has a beautifully chiseled and rugged face with a days' bread and short, nicely trimmed white-blond hair. Damien has deep and sexy masculine voice, according to the girls and women here. He has a lean and muscular body with colorful tattoos that covered his forearms.

Damien asked her, concern for. “So what’s Mrs. Heartland complaining about now?”

Mrs. Heartland was Mrs. Medousa’s real name but Mikaela would only refer to her as Medousa, both out loud and in thought, which is great dislike and disapproved of by her parents.

Mikaela brought up one of her hands, showing her brother her busted knuckles.” Because I punched her grandson after he tried to focus himself on me, Damien…..Actually that was before I used by my biotics to toss him around like a damn rag-doll.”

Damien looked down at her in concern.” Did you tell mom and dad?”

Mikaela nodded her head.” Yeah, I told them before Mrs. Medousa came a-callin’.” Then she murmured quietly. “I wish Taira was here.”

She felt her brother tense at her quiet confessions or he was probably responding to the longing in her voice. It was hard on the both of them when their uncle Nathaniel, their father’s brother take her away, moving to live on the Citadel. Like the rest of their family, Damien misses her as well and hopes to see her again once the family drama has finally died down.

Damien sighed before he stood up and grabbed her hand.” Come on. I’ll make you a strawberry pancakes, your favorite.”

Mikaela stood and followed her brother out of the barn but she hurried back up the ladder and jogged towards the stereo and turned off the song. She hurried back down the ladder, where her brother was waiting for her.

Mikaela jumped onto his back and Damien gave her a piggyback ride back to the house. He carried her like that as he walked up the steps to the back porch and opened the backdoor.

Damien set her down and ruffled her hair, saying.” Alright. It’s cheering up time!”

Damien was opening the fridge just as their mother walked into the kitchen.

Serene Shepard was a petite and beautiful woman in her early to mid-forties with long beautiful curly white-blond hair and vibrant green eyes.

Serene was the living epitome of a patient and gentle mother, she never loses her temper and she always speaks in a soft tone.

Even though her mother doesn’t really know about how to control and use biotic powers, she still tried the best she could in order to help Mikaela and she loved her mother for that.

Serene smiled down at her daughter and took her hand as she sat down by her on the stool.” Your biotic powers are giving you a hard time.”

It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. Her mother knew Mikaela had no control of her biotics abilities from all the incidents where they were unleash due to them being tightly linked to her emotions, especially strong ones, such as angry and fear.

Mikaela rubbed the back of her neck.” Not really. I purpose threw him around with my biotic powers before punching him in the face.”

Serene sighed as she stroked her hair.” Mikaela, you’re supposed to be at peace with your biotic powers, not let it go out in a rampage.”

Mikaela grumbled as she rested the heel of her hand on her chin.” Yeah, I’ll try to keep that in mind as I’m getting attacked by some punk boy.”

Serene kissed her forehead as Richard Shepard walked into the kitchen, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Richard Shepard is a man of imitating height but to his family and to his closest friends, he is a fair and just man who loves his family greatly and is very protective of them, especially his wife and daughter.

Richard has short, wavy red hair and vibrant blue eyes. He was a very handsome man with a nicely trimmed go-tee much like Tony Stark from _Iron Man_.

Mikaela takes after her mother in facial appearance and Damien takes after his father in facial appearance while she inherit her mother’s eyes and curly hair, and her father’s hair color; while Damien inherit his mother’s hair color and inherit his father’s eyes and  wavy hair.

Serene walked over to Richard and took his hand in hers.” What’s wrong?”

Richard dropped his hand from his face and looked down at her.” It’s Mrs. Heartland and her grandson. Everytime I talk to them, they give me a headache.”

Mikaela gave her father a crooked smile.” Sorry, dad.”

“No, baby girl. You’re not in trouble,” Richard said as he walked over to her and kissed her forehead.” It’s that grandson of hers that’s in trouble.”

“What did you do?” Serene asked.

Richard sat down on the stool by his daughter.” Well, as Sheriff, I had to arrest him for attempt rape and call my men in to take him in.”

Damien winced as he started to mix the pancake batter as Serene came over to slice up the strawberries.” Ouch. I wonder how Mrs. Heartland handles that decision.”

Mikaela thought as she toyed with the leaf of one of the strawberries. _“Hopefully she suffered a heartattack and dropped dead.”_

Richard sighed as Serene got him a cup of coffee and set it down by his plate.” She went crazy and attacked me. My men had arrest her for attacking the Sheriff.”

Serene shook her head as she got a glass of orange for Mikaela, and coffee for Damien. “She always mothered that boy, no wonder he turned out so bad.”

Mikaela said with a mischievous grin.” So, it’s safe to call him a mama’s boy?”

Damien chuckled before their parents could say anything. “Mama’s boy nothing! It’s Grandma’s boy, sis.”

Serene scolded them, even though she was fighting back a smile.” That’s not very nice, you two. He was raised by her after the death of his parents.”

So she may have overly mothered him as he was growing up.” Serene continued as Richard watched her scold their children.” And I’m sure he’ll grow out of this when he gets older.”

Mikaela placed her chin on her palm as she arched her brow at her mother.” I heard men don’t mature until their forties, Mom.”

Damien smiled.” Or fifties, in that punk’s case.”

Serene puckered her lips out in annoyance at them and they immediately cramped their lips shut in order to prevent even more scolding from their mother. Mikaela peeked through her lashes to look at her father to see him wearing a faint smile on his lips. He was clearly amused by their exchange about Jacob and his wife’s attempt to defend the boy.

Damien set the fluffy pancakes down on Mikaela’s and their father’s plate before serving himself and their mother. Serene scooped up two spoon full of strawberries and placed it on top of the pancakes.

Mikaela smiled up at her brother and mother.” Thanks for breakfast.”

Serene smiled at her as she set down beside her husband.” You’re welcome, Sunset.”

Mikaela smiled at that pet name that her mother used ever since she was three years old. Instead of having beautiful shiny brown hair like her father and the rest of his family, Mikaela’s red hair with gold streaks, resembling the sunsets back on earth or on Mindoir. Her red-gold locks had what started both her mother and grandmother calling her ‘Sunset’. Her grandmother, her father’s mother, would always set her up on her lap, and stroke her hair, telling her that it was impossible to tell where her sunset-color hair ended and where the actually sunset, they would watch the sunset together, start.

So very since then, Mikaela took great pride and care of her red-gold hair, brushing it for hours, until it glowed like fire, despite her locks being naturally tight little ringlets. It was her way of honoring her grandmother, when she died in her sleep. She was four years old when she died but Mikaela decided to honor her life instead of mourn her death. It was something she would have wanted of her anyway; she loved her enthusiastic and optimistic nature to being with, and she found her honesty and fearless in endearing despite her mother’s constant worry that Mikaela might get jump over it but thanks to her grandmother, Mikaela learned to defend herself when she got into fights with the local bullies.

Mikaela cut into her pancakes with her fork as she glanced over her grandmother’s chair, empty now. _“I wonder if she’s with grandfather, looking down at us as she stands there in heaven.”_

Richard glanced at his wrist-watch.” I better get going before trouble starts without me on duty.”

Serene smiled at him as she leaned up to press a kiss on his lips.” Bye, dear.”

Mikaela smiled up at her father as he came over and kissed her forehead.” Bye, daddy.”

Richard ruffled her hair.” Bye, Baby girl.”

Damien stood and hugged their father, who returned his hug.” Bye, dad.”

Richard patted his son’s shoulder.” You’re in charge while I’m at work, son.”

Richard walked out of the back door and headed towards his sheriff car. Serene stood by the screen door and watched as her husband pulled away and drove down the dirt road of their property.

Mikaela stood up, polishing off her last bite of pancake and strawberries.” I’m going to my room to study, mama.”

Serene turned and smiled at her as Mikaela set her plate and glass in the sink.” Alright, I’ll bring snickerdoodles cookies up to your room later on.”

Mikaela ran out of the kitchen and hurried towards the stairs, but she stopped when she stepped up on the first step as she spotted the picture of her grandfather, her father’s father, and smiled at the picture as it was the only one they had with him holding Mikaela and her sister when they were twelve months day. Grandpa had died the day after this picture was taken; he had gone to bed that night and never got up the following morning. Grandma figured that he just wanted one last picture with his last grandchildren after learning that his daughter-in-law couldn’t have any more children, so he died peacefully that night, content with leaving now after getting his last wish.

Mikaela reached over and touched her fingertips to her grandfather’s face and smiled before she took the stairs two at a time as she climb up stairs. She reached the landing of the stairs and headed towards her bedroom, she walked pass her brother’s bedroom where a chiming sound came out of it.

Mikaela stopped and shouted down the stairs towards him.” Damien! Someone is trying to reach you on your comm!”

Damien shouted back at her.” Thanks, Kaela!”

Mikaela turned when she heard him climbing up the stairs and walked down the hall to her bedroom door. She opened it and stepped through the threshold, closing the door behind her. Mikaela walked towards her desk and grabbed her messenger bag off the back of her chair, and walked towards her bed where she set her bag on it and zipped it open. Mikaela removed her history pad and note pad from her bag and set them down on the mattress before tossing the bag to the ground and climbed onto the mattress and sat down.

Mikaela turned on her history pad and setting it down before her crossed leg before reaching out for her note pad and turning it down. But her background image stopped her from opening up her history notes in order to study for the history test tomorrow.

It was a picture of a turian male, her sexual preference.

Mikaela learned that her sexual preference was directed towards males when she hit puberty at the age of thirteen, but it wasn’t until she was fifteen when she learned that it wasn’t directed towards human males that she was sexually attracted to, but instead towards turian males after she came across images of them from the First Contact War during a lesson of it in history. She knew about sex and sexual feelings thanks to her mother, when she hit puberty and boy was she surprised that instead of liking human boys like the other girls her age, she liked turian boys. But she did at least try to date couple of boys of her own species, in order to make sure it was a flaw in her emotions, but she didn’t feel an excitement directed towards them when they kissed her good-night after the date.

After couple of bad dates and terrible kissing and awkward groping, Mikaela began to refuse to go out with her own kind since she didn’t want to lead them on when her sexual preference was clearly directed towards something else entirely. She was noble and honest like that, she hated playing games with people, especially when it came to the matters of the heart.

And she didn’t understand herself why she had found them sexually attractive. They look like a cross between a dinosaur and bird, an evolution link to be exact, proving the fact that dinosaurs did indeed evolved into birds.

Turians stand at six feet tall, have two long, proportionately thick fingers and an opposable thumb on each hand, each tipped with talons, and their teeth and jaws has a set of mandibles around it. The most distinguishing feature of turians is their metallic carapace with the crest of horns that ranges in length. They have forward-facing alert eyes and slender bodies. And when they speak, their voices have a distinctive flanging effect. But similar to humans, the turians have different skin tones and has elaborate tattoos of their faces.

 _“It’s not like I can test to see if I am truly sexual attracted towards them as turians never come this way.”_  Mikaela opened up her history fold with a sigh.

But it actually had started out as mere curiosity of the turians when she was four; it had started when her grandmother had returned from the First Contact War, after spending months in the hands of a turian general. She would listen to her grandmother telling her about the turians and how they are different from them, the humans. Mikaela started to think that her grandmother was actually in love with her mysterious turian general but she had never worked up the nerve to ask her, not wanting her grandmother to become angry with her and kept it to herself.

**Afternoon**

Mikaela was lying on her stomach, rereading her notes the tenth time, when a knock sounded on her door. She raised her head as she laid her pad down before her.” Come in!”

Her mother opened the door, holding a tray with a plate of snickerdoodles and a glass of lemonade.” I brought you a snack, Sunset.”

Mikaela smiled at her mother as she sat up and crossed her legs over each other, going into a cross-legged posture.” Yeah, thanks, mama.”

Serene walked over to the nightstand by her bed and set the tray on it.” So how’s it going?”

Mikaela waved her pad up in the air.” It’s going fine, mama.”

Serene stroked her ringlets.” Your brother asked for a turkey croissant sandwich, do you want one?”

Mikaela nodded her head as she grabbed a cookie from the plate and took a bite of it.” That sounds good.”

Her mother walked out of her room, closing the door behind her.” Alright, I’ll go make it now.”

Mikaela laid her chin on her palm as she listened to her mother walking down the stairs. She twirled a ringlet around her index finger and stopped to watch the ringlet untwirl from her finger. Mikaela continued to twirl and untwirl her ringlet around and from her finger as she fell back onto her mattress, her legs still crossed over each other.

Mikaela turned her head towards the window and frowned when she saw something striking through the sky. She climbed out of her bed and walked towards her window, where she raised it up and leaned her upper body out of the window in order to get a better view of the flying object.

Mikaela snorted at her thoughts. _“Flying objects? We already know there are aliens out here and we don’t live on earth. So what else is out there?”_

Mikaela caught movement from the corner of her eye and looked over to see her brother talking to his going-to-be ex-girlfriend by her car. She pulled back into her room and crouched to the floor, watching them from her position.

She turned her head when she heard the door opening to see her mother walking into her room.

Serene frowned at her daughter.” What are you doing, Sunset?”

Mikaela answered her.” watching Damien and Lucy talk.”

Serene came over and looked out at her son and his would-be ex-girlfriend.” so, he’s really going to end things with her.”

Mikaela looked up at her mother.” Of course he is. She’s been cheating on him numerous times. It’s time for her to get the boot.”

Serene agreeing with Mikaela.” Well, that and she’s so disrespectful towards me and your father.”

Mikaela thought, resting her jaw on the heels of both of her hands. _“And that she’s insanely jealous of me.”_

Serene grabbed her shoulder and raised her up.” Now, it’s time for you to eat your lunch and finish studying for your test tomorrow.”

“Aw, mama!” Mikaela complained as her mother marched her back to her bed.” I wanted to see Lucy get dumped by Damien!”

Serene sat her down on the mattress and ran her fingers through her ringlets.” That’s private, Sunset. It’s between your brother and her.”

Mikaela pushed her bottom lip out, the act of sulkily pouting.” Why is getting dumped private? Everyone is going to know about by this evening.”

Serene smiled at her as she brushed her bangs from her hair and kissed her forehead.” You’ll understand when you get a boyfriend, Sunset.”

Mikaela nervously laugh as she thought. _“Not if my boyfriend is a turian and I have no idea how those guys will handle being dumped by a human.”_

Mikaela returned to her notepad as her mother walked out of the room but she raised her head suddenly and looked towards the window as she remembered the object that was flying across the sky far from their house. But now, it was no longer there. It had vanished from view, leaving Mikaela to wonder what it was.

**Meanwhile,**

Far from the small town and avoiding lands that are owned by farmers, was a ship that was filled with batarian slavers.

Batarian leader peered through his binocular, looking at the small town below them. He lowered the binocular down and looked behind him towards his men.

One of his men came to stand by his side and asked.” A human colony?”

He smirked as he tossed his binocular towards one of his men.” Yeah, it’s about time those humans get what’s coming to them.”

He smiled, excited.” I can’t wait!”

The leader walked back towards the ship, shouting at them.” We’ll attack the colony at night; it will act as a natural cover for us.”

“Yes, sir!” was the only reply his men give him.

The Batarian Captain watched his men disappear into the forest that acted as their natural shield for themselves and their massive spaceship. He couldn’t believe how much he’s getting paid for attacking this pathetic farming colony. And it was all for getting a mere human girl to give to the mysterious man who sent him the message.

The man had ordered the Captain to receive the girl and he wanted her unharmed and undamaged, the way they find her is how he wants her brought to him. He had that and being hired as laughable but he wasn’t going to turn down that amount money because of the request and the job.

The Captain didn’t tell his crew about it, he just told them that one of his buyers had requested a specific type of human and set course here, since it was close to their location. Now that they were here, the Captain just has to wait for his men to find her and bring more slaves to cover it and he would get his money and be happy about it.

**In Space.**

A large yet sleek Alliance battle cruiser journeyed through the starry vast space. It was a beautiful shade of black with a midnight blue streak running along the side of the cruiser, blending in well with the black. This particular cruiser was famous among humans, asari, salarians and turians alike for its sneak attacks and destructive weapons on enemies who are unaware of it coming towards them.

The Admiral of the ship was equally as famous as, probably even more famous, as the legendary Rear Admiral Jon Grissom.

His name is Admiral Lachlan Sinclair, a Scottish man of imposing height and appearance. He has white blond hair and vibrant green eyes, Lachlan stands at a cool height of six feet, putting him on equal footing to most turians.

Unlike most of humans, Lachlan isn’t mistrusting towards turians and he doesn’t hate them. Instead, he just treats them like how he would treat people of his own race. Lachlan sees turians as ideal soldiers: discipline and able to follow orders to the letter, without question.

But there was one thing that Lachlan actually didn’t care for in the turians, they would never question bad orders, following it without complaint or question. Lachlan never made a bad order but he has questioned his old commanding officers’ bad orders in the past and it had caused him to bump heads with them all.

Lachlan is the only commanding officer in the entire military who would willingly work with a turian in order to have a better relationship with the turian race, without bitching and grumping about it. So, when the Council requested that Lachlan would do patrol with a turian soldier of their chosen, he immediately accept it, willing to work with a turian in order to prove that he was different from the other humans.

Lachlan was pleasantly surprised when the turian soldier turned out to be none other than the famous turian Spectre, Saren Arterius.

Even though this was the first time that Lachlan actually met the turian, he knows the turian Spectre by stories he heard from the grapevine.

Lachlan heard from his friend, Captain David Anderson, that Saren lost a brother in First Contact war and has disliked humanity ever since. And that Saren has little regard for life, again, coming from David. He does not see saving lives as a priority unless the Council deems it necessary, or if there is information to be gathered. He remains the Council's top agent despite his records: Saren may be ruthless and calculating, but he gets results.

Lachlan didn’t know if he like or dislike Saren because of that, but Lachlan couldn’t fault the man of hating someone for the death of a family member. Lachlan hates Cerberus for kidnapping his mother and killing her from all those experiments they had done to her. He doubted that he would never forgive Cerberus for causing so much hurt and anger in his family.

So he can relate to Saren in that regard but with the others, no chance in hell.

Lachlan turned his head when he heard footsteps behind him to see Saren walking onto the bridge.

Lachlan waited until Saren was standing by him before he spoke.” Sorry about the change of plans, Saren.”

Saren looked at Lachlan.” This takes preference over the patrol.”

Lachlan arched his brow at the disgust in his voice.” Sounds like you’ve been after this batarian for a while now, Saren.”

“They’re slavers.” Saren said, looking back at the galaxy map below them.” I don’t really like slavers. Selling innocent people to ruthless buyers.”

Lachlan thought as he stared at Saren.   _“A Spectre known for his ruthlessness has the gale to call slave buyers ruthless. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.”_

Lachlan said out loud, keeping that thought to himself.” My people just got back to me. They apparently landed on the human colony of Mindoir in the Attican Traverse.”

Saren gripped the rails of the platform as he stared down at the map.” Do you think we’ll make it in time?”

Lachlan looked at him, sighing.” You mean in time to stop the slavers from attacking them? I doubt it. Time isn’t on our side.”

 

Mikaela looked up from her history datapad towards the window when she heard a car pulling up the driveway. She immediately noticed that it was way into the evening and it was the time of her father returning home from work. Mikaela turned off her datapad and notepad, confident with herself for an A on the test tomorrow, and jumped off the bed to welcome her father home.

Mikaela ran down the stairs just as her father walked through the front door and jumped into his arms, hugging him.” Welcome home, daddy!”

Richard laughed, stroked her back as he returned her hug.” It’s good to be home with that welcome.”

Serene walked into the front room, wiping her hands on the apron she wore around her waist.” Mikaela Juliet Shepard! Are you done with studying?”

Mikaela smiled at her mother.” Yeah. I’m totally pumped for the test tomorrow.”

Damien walked in, whistling at her confidence.” Whoa, look who’s confident for the test tomorrow.”

Mikaela smiled at him.” Of course, I’m always confident that I’ll win in everything that I set my mind to.”

Richard ruffled her ringlets.” But don’t allow your confidence to become arrogance, Kaela. You need to know when your abilities start and where it ends.”

Mikaela smiled up at him, holding his hand to her ringlets.” Aye, sir!”

Serene smiled as she gestured them into the kitchen.” Come on, dinner is ready. Let’s eat in the living room and watch a movie.”

Richard slipped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her against him as they walked into the kitchen with Mikaela and Damien walking behind them.” Now that sounds good.”

They take their dinner into the living room where Richard turn on the vid and put on a movie. They spent the rest of the evening like that, watching vids and laughing.

Serene looked over at Richard and smiled.” Kaela is asleep.”

Richard looked down at Mikaela and smiled at the sight of her. She had rested her cheek on his shoulder, falling asleep in that position.

Richard stood up and lifted her up in his arms, telling his wife.” I’ll put her to bed, so I’ll be right back.”

Serene waved at him as she and Damien returned to watching the vid. Richard carried Mikaela up the stairs and into her bedroom.

He laid her down the mattress and covered her with the blankets as Mikaela rolled onto her side and curled up into a tight ball, still asleep.

Richard smiled down at her as he leaned over and kissed her forehead before walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.

 

Mikaela suddenly snapped open her eyes, awake and alert. She sat up slowly, sitting on her hip and thigh, as she looked around her dark room. Mikaela didn’t know what awoke her up but she started to hear something outside her bedroom window. It was faint at first, but then it was starting to become loud. It sounded a lot like screaming and shooting. Mikaela climbed out of bed and hurried to the window, she opened the curtains and saw a vibrant shade of red staining the dark sky over at the horizon.

Mikaela frowned at it after glancing at the clock by her bed. _“It midnight, I shouldn’t be seeing the sunrise now.”_

Suddenly her bedroom door was flung open, startling the girl. She spun around quickly to see her mother standing in the threshold of her bedroom. Behind her was Damien, holding a rifle in his hands.

Mikaela asked as she came to stand before her mother.” What’s wrong, mama?”

Serene grabbed her hand instead of answering her and led her down the stairs.” Get dress and come with me, now, Kaela.”

Mikaela got dress, with her brother’s back facing her now, and then followed her mother with her brother bringing up the rear. Her mother led her into the kitchen where Mikaela saw her father standing by the backdoor. Mikaela turned her head around and saw that her brother was heading towards the front door, where it was barred by the two cabinets.

Mikaela turned her head towards her mother, worried now.” Mama, what’s going on?”

Serene looked at Richard, who nodded his head at her, giving her permission before she turned back to Mikaela.” We’re being attacked by batarian slavers, Sunset. They’re either killing or abducting us.”

Richard laid his hands on his wife and daughter’s shoulder.” I want the two of you to run into the forest and stay there until either Damien or I come to get you.”

Mikaela grabbed her father’s hand, saying.” But I don’t want to leave!”

Richard hugged Mikaela to his chest.” I know you don’t, Baby girl. But you have too; I want you and your mother to be safe.”

Mikaela nodded her head in silent as she stepped back so that her mother and father could say their farewells. She turned and hurried towards her brother. Damien set his rifle down and held out his arms to her, which she leapt up into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, as she used to do when she was little.

Damien hugged her and whispered in her ear.” Buckle up, Kiddo. You’re the only person that can keep mom from coming apart. I’m counting on you to watch her back.”

Mikaela whispered back.” I know.”

Damien set her back on her feet and ruffled her ringlets.” Remember our favorite song?”

Mikaela said, smiling up at him.” Nickelback’s if today was your last day?”

Damien smiled down at her.” Yeah. Remember the lyrics, kiddo, and live by them. Never ever forget them.”

Mikaela hugged him and buried her face into his chest, fighting back the tears that was threating to spill from her eyes.” I promise.”

Damien stroked her ringlets.” Alright. Go to mama and get her out of here.”

Mikaela nodded her head.” Right.”

Mikaela turned and ran back to her mother. Serene held her hand out to her and Mikaela took it, and both mother and daughter ran out in the darkness, neither of them turning around out of fear of running back to Richard and Damien.

Twenty minutes into their run, Serene suddenly stopped, bringing Mikaela to a halt behind her.

Mikaela looked around, whispering to her.” What is it?”

Serene turned and hurried towards a large rock that was surrounded by a thick patch of bushes and shoved her daughter into them. Mikaela landed hard on the ground and fought back a cry of pain as she looked up at her mother.

Serene reached through the branches of the bush to cup her daughter’s cheek.” There is a large group of batarian coming this way. I want you to stay here and be quiet while I lead them away from you.”

Mikaela felt her mother’s fingertips slowly slipping away from her skin before she snapped out of her daze and she immediately grabbed a hold of her mother’s hand with both of her hands.

Mikaela whispered.” Don’t leave me, mama, stay with me.”

Serene smiled sad yet happy, down at her daughter.” I can’t, Sunset. I have to do this if I want you to live. I just want you to be safe and to live. I love you so much, my little Sunset.”

Serene slipped her hand from her daughter’s now numb grip; she turned and ran off, making enough noise to alert the batarians to her presence and causing them to chase after her.

Mikaela watched as they disappeared into the darkness of the forest and waited until she no longer could hear them before she climbed out of her hiding spot. She stood up and looked around, realizing that she was surrounded by darkness and that she was now alone in the dark with batarians around her, searching for victims for them to either kill or abduct.

Mikaela turned, facing the opposite direction of where her mother was going, but she was stop when she heard her mother’s scream followed by loud and multiple gunshots, that silence her mother’s scream.

Mikaela turned to face that direction when a loud explosion erupted through the night. She immediately turned, facing the direction of the sound and realized with a dull sensation that the explosion had come from the direction of her home, where she and her mother had lifted her father and brother to fight off the batarians as she and her mother seek cover in the forest.

Mikaela felt tears threating to fall from her eyes before she remembered what her father, mother and brother told her and she slapped her cheeks, in order to snap herself out of her daze and to hide until the batarians leave. She turned away from the direction of her home and ran away, heading further and further away from her home and her family, in order to survive the night of death and slavery.

 

Saren walked through the forest of Mindoir, disposing of batarian slavers that he has stumbled upon in the forest. He had just killed two of batarians who were standing around a corpse of a human woman and he had kept the third one in order to get information out of him. The batarian willing gave it to him after couple of broken ribs and a busted arm.

According to him, the Captain had received a strange message that he didn’t share with them. Mindoir wasn’t ordinary their target to get slaves, but that changed after their Captain had received the message and ordered his crew to change course to Mindoir, and he didn’t tell them anything until they landed on Mindoir where he told them to kill and rape everyone else but one: a human girl with red hair and green eyes, she was ordered to be brought back to him unharmed and undamaged.

And that order immediately piqued Saren’s interest and curiosity. Slavers never ever considered the safety of the merchandize; whether it is humanoid or creature, so this was the first time he had heard of them being concern of the merchandize, especially a member of a race that batarians hated to the point of willingly start a fight with.

But that was the only information that Saren could get out of him, so he had killed the slaver and switched his destination: he was heading towards where the other three had headed towards, searching for the human child. He needed to find out why the Captain wants the human for and who hired them.

 

It was further down her journey through the forest with the sun rising over the horizon, dawn finally coming, that Mikaela started to get the sense that she was being followed. She turned her head to glance over her shoulder to see a batarian man following her.

Mikaela hissed as she picked up the pace.” Shit!”

The batarian must have realized that she had seen him because now she could hear his running footfall behind her. Mikaela started to turn this way and that way, in order to shake him off her tail, but he was impossible to shake off.  

Mikaela was too focus on the one behind her, that she didn’t see the two hiding behind an oak tree until they jumped out before her and grabbed her arms in order to keep her with them.

Mikaela fought against them, catching one in the groin with a sharp thrust of her knee but the other one slammed his fist into her gut, doubling her forehead and then followed with a hard back-handed, knocking her down and splitting her lip open, and leaving her gasping for air.

The one that was chasing her came over and stopped him from continuing his assault on her.” Easy, this one would pay us good money with her looks. So the boss would want her uninjured.”

Mikaela thought as she glared up at him. _“Should have told him that before he struck me, you bastard.”_

The one that she had kneeled wheezed out.” But she’s too wild; she may not be liked by buyers.”

“It doesn’t matter,” the batarian said,” she’ll just to be a challenge for them to tame.”

 _“I absolutely love it how they can talk about me as if I was a wild mustang.”_  Mikaela thought as she laid there, nursing her wound and her pride.

Mikaela licked her lips and came away with the taste of iron in her mouth. The busted lip didn’t hurt as much as her pride did and she was going to enjoy getting even with them. She didn’t like it when someone hits her when she wasn’t expecting it, it’s underhanded and cowardly, and she was looking forward towards what was coming to these batarian bastards.

The batarian said, gesturing towards her.” grab her and get back to the ship.”

The two nodded as they reached down to grab her arms but Mikaela had enough to time to regain her senses. She kicked the first man’s knee, snapping it backwards and she twirled around on her butt and slammed the heel of her boot into the other man’s groin, hard, causing him to fall to the ground as she rolled away.

Mikaela jumped to her feet and took off running once again; this time she got a pretty good distance between her and the batarians when they finally regained themselves. She could hear them crashing through the undergrowth as they tried to catch up to her.

Mikaela turned her head to look back at them so she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and she failed to see the tall shape standing by her until she was grabbed by the wrist by them.

Mikaela gasped as she turned her head to look up at them and found herself starring into the carapace of a turian man.

Like all turians, His face was covered by a mask of hard cartilage and his mask was the pale color of bone; it looked like a skull. For some reason, to Mikaela, he reminded her of the Grim Reaper, the embodiment of death itself in her culture.

And that gave her goosebumps as he slowly lowered his head down to look at her.

He gazed down at her with his eerily pale blue eyes before looking away from her as the three batarians came into view and coming to a halt before them. Mikaela looked back at the batarians and realized that they were looking at the imposing turian with fear written on their face. She slowly looked back up at the turian as she started to feel uneasiness towards him.

But she didn’t have time to think about it even more as the turian raised his gun and fired three bullets, the loud gunfire caused Mikaela to wince, as the bullets tore through the batarians’ skulls, sending brain matter, blood and skull fragment spreading out on the ground and tree trunks behind them. She watched wide-eyed as their corpses fell backwards, landing with a resounding thud. The turian then slipped his gun into its place on his thigh as he turned back to look down at her. Mikaela looked back up at the turian man with an unflinching stare and a calm expression.

Saren stared down at the human female by him, her eyes staring directly into his eyes. Her eyes were steady and somewhat piercing -- not looking through him, but certainly looking at him, as if to challenge.

The human girl has an exquisite, delicate, triangular-shaped face with a definitive jaw line and accentuated cheekbones, similar to that of a professional model of human women. There a speckle of light freckles on her nose and cheeks, which gave her a young, childlike, appearance.

She has a curvy yet slim build, again, like a professional model of human women. She is tall and lean, athletic-looking, with a long neck.

But it was her hair and eyes that drew his attention the most.

Her eyes were disturbing, with an exotic slant. Such vibrant green eyes in that fair face, so green and clear, like colored crystal. Her lips were soft and full and the nose straight and slender. A thick fringe of flame lashes framed those extraordinary eyes, while red brows arched gently above them. Her hair was fiery red, too, in tight little ringlets surrounding her face, giving her fair skin a glow like polished ivory.

But her hair wasn’t just a red color; Saren realized this as the light of the rising sun gave him a better view at the color. It was more of a red-gold color, similar to color and vibrancy to the sunsets on Palaven. And she wore her beautiful ringlets in a ponytail and she wore a fringe of her curly bangs pass her jaw, as if to soften her jawline.

Saren looked away from her, still keeping his hold on her wrist, as his eyes went to the three dead batarian slavers and stared at them. It was the same ones that had broken away from the three that had chased the human woman.

Saren thought as he looked back at the human girl. _“So, it wasn’t a mere child that they were after, it was a human teenager.”_

He was surprised by her beauty, mature and sensuality, even though it possessed some fragility and childlike quality to it, and he had never noticed the attractiveness of a human before and that unnerved him.

Saren stared at her for a moment before finally breaking the silence by saying.” We need to get out of here before more come to check on them.”

The human girl snapped as Saren dragged her behind him.” Then maybe you shouldn’t have shot them through the skull.”

Saren glared back at her over his shoulder.” If I didn’t kill them then they would have alert the rest of their crew to my presence and I don’t want that to happen yet, girl.”

The human girl snorted as she rolled her eyes.” Oh, and like shooting them wasn’t going to alert them to your presence.” She smirked up at him as she stepped closer to him, so that her breasts were slightly touching his torso.” I’m pretty sure that gunfire had alerted them that someone killed their buddies, so sneaking around isn’t part of your plan any longer.”

Saren stared down at her.” Do you know who I am, girl?”

“A turian soldier by the looks of you,” The human girl retorted as she gave him an once-over that seemed to be sexual.

“I’m Saren Arterius, a Spectre.”

Mikaela thought as Saren resembled his walk, dragging her behind him, her eyes bulging out and her jaw dropped open. _“Holy Hamburgers, Batman! I did not expect that he was a Spectre on top of being a turian.”_

Mikaela immediately snapped out of it, remembering her manners,” I’m Mikaela Shepard.”

Mikaela heard about this famous Spectre from the old timers back at the barber shop whenever her father with his mother went in to get a haircut. He was the youngest turian ever accepted into the Spectres. Intelligent, cunning and capable, Saren quickly developed a reputation for ruthless efficiency. And while there were a number of unsettling rumors from her grandmother and her war buddies, concerning the brutality of his methods, but they also couldn’t deny his results.

Saren was also an outspoken opponent of human expansion, according to her Uncle, her father’s brother. Like many other non-humans, he believed that Systems Alliance has become overly aggressive in its efforts to establish the people of Earth as a dominant species in Citadel space. While it took the other species centuries to accomplish gaining acceptance into the Citadel, humanity had achieved in less than one, and there are several species that have a "lower" standing on the Citadel compared to humanity, despite having been part of the Citadel community longer.

And according to both her grandmother and uncle, his speciesism is speculated to have originated in the First Contact War, when the turians attacked Shanxi. Mikaela was told from her Uncle that Saren lost a brother in the war and has disliked humanity ever since.

And also, Saren has little to no regard for life, something that Mikaela didn’t find at all that appeal, even though he was her sexual preference.

Mikaela spoke, staring up at Saren, causing the turian to look back at her.” I heard of you.”

Saren stared at her before he looked away from her.” I see…”

“I heard that you’re a real prick that hates humans.” Mikaela said as she watched his back as they walked through the forest.

” I wasn’t sent here to make friends, girl.” Saren glanced at her over his shoulder before looking ahead, saying devoid of care but void of patience,” I follow two principles, the first being: ‘Never kill anyone without a good reason’ and the second: ‘You can always find a reason to kill someone’. So I doubt that type of principles would make me any friends.”

Mikaela stared at him, allowing the silence to settle between them as they walked through the forest. During his speech, he had finally released his hold on her wrist, leaving Mikaela to follow him on her own, rubbing her wrist as she noticed bruises forming on her wrist.

She couldn’t get a read off Saren, it was something that she didn’t like and found it unsettling.

It was something that her father had taught her, to read people in the way that it was almost psychic. He taught to her pay attention to detail and to the slightest twitch or movement to people around her and ones that she would encounter.

 _“Everyone lie, Kaela”_ , Mikaela remembered her father telling her this constantly. _“everyone has an angle or a motive. And it’s up to you to never fall for them or know what they are. Pay attention to everything, even the littlest detail has the power to ruin their entire lie and motive.”_

 _“How many times have my father told that to me?”_ Mikaela wondered, following Saren. _“he only taught me how to read humans, batarians and asari.”_

 _“but this is the first time I actually met a turian, so do they lie?”_ Mikaela thought as she looked at Saren as he walked ahead of her, leading her down the forest path, _“so it was the perfect opportunity for me to check and make sure that turian males are my sexual preference.”_

Mikaela frowned at her last thought as if something finally dawned on her. _“And how the hell am I supposed to check? I can’t just jump the man, I just met him!”_

Suddenly Saren spun around and pushed her up against a large trunk of a tree. Mikaela immediately got angry and offended; she may have been dying to know if her preference is real or not, but she damn well is not going to just stand here and let him do whatever he wants to her.

Just as she opened her mouth to rip into him, he put his hand over her mouth and pressed his body against her, fully pinning her to the trunk. Her breath whooshed out of her lungs and her anger and outrage vaporized at the feel of his hard frame pressed into her softer one.

She may not have been able to tear into him but Mikaela did went stiff as a board at her first fell of a man’s body pressing hard against hers.

When Jacob, Ms. Medousa’s grandson, did this to her, Mikaela felt nothing but coldness and disgusted at the feel of his body touching hers. But now that Saren, who was a turian, was doing the same thing he was doing, and all she feels is hotness and excitement. She could feel her heart beating fast against her chest and her cheeks growing hot.

Mikaela thought as she stared up at Saren as he was peering around the trunk of the tree. _“Well, this confirms it. I am sexually attracted towards turian men.”_

“Coast is clear. We really need to get out of here, there’s no cov…..” Saren spoke as he turned to look back at her but he had trailed off once he fully looked at her and Mikaela had no clue as to why.

Mikaela inhaled a sharp breath of air as he slowly slide his hand away from her lips to cup the back of her neck as his other arm slipped around her waist and brought her up against him.

His face was coming towards hers when she exhaled, his mouth coming near hers as he lifted her head up. Her eyes drifted close as Mikaela stood up on her tip toes as their mouth came closer together.

“Saren!” a voice broke through from him comm, shattering the situation between them.

Saren moved away from Mikaela as he spoke into the comm.” What is it, Admiral Sinclair?”

Mikaela turned away, clenching her heart as she doubled over as a blush formed on her cheeks, neck and the tip of her ears. _“What was that?! I was going to kiss… Wait a minute….”_  Mikaela’s eyes widen in shock as she realized something, _“was Saren going to kiss me first? I thought he hated humans to the point of not wanting to even work with them, let alone touch them.”_

Mikaela looked at Saren as he spoke to the other man on the other end of the comm. _“so why would he kiss a human girl like myself when he hates us.”_

Saren was wondering the same thing as well as he spoke to Admiral Sinclair on the comm.  He didn’t know what possess him to kiss the human girl. But the feeling was growing inside him ever since he saved her from the slavers and it continued to grow and burn until it got to the point that he couldn’t control the urge any longer. So when he had pinned her to the tree and covered her mouth in order to keep her silent until the batarian slavers made away from them, it was, at first to keep her from being seen or heard by them as he watched them move away. His actions and mind-frame was, at that point on the mission, but when he had turned back to her, telling her the plan, the plan and mission was instantly vanquished from his mind once he saw that heated expression in her eyes as she looked up at him and Saren had fell into the chaos of his urges.

But the timely call of Admiral Sinclair had saved him from his urge and he returned to the task at hand. Saren was angry that a mere human girl could make him lose his composure while he kept his calmness back in previous missions.

“Did you find any survivors on your end, Saren?” Lachlan asked, drawing Saren out of his thoughts and into the matter at hand.

Saren looked at the human girl who was now staring at him with a troubled expression on her face.” Yeah, I found one. It’s a girl.”

The girl gave him a dirty look, surprising him as no one had ever given him one before,” My name is Mikaela Shepard, so I would appreciate if you remembered it.”

Saren stared at her before he turned away; ignoring her as he continued speaking to the human on the other end, which only seemed to anger the girl even further. As he watched her from the corner of his eyes, he realized that anger made her even more beautiful, making her cheeks even redder and her eyes even more vibrant.

Now, he was filled with this urge to make her even angrier, to see her even more beautiful as her temper flared even brighter and stronger.

Saren blinked, confused to this uncharacteristic desire, he never had this feeling before, this desire, to see a female, a human at that, angry and violent towards him because he made her that way.

Saren inwardly shook himself, bringing himself back to the mission at hand. _“I need to focus on my mission and not on some human girl.”_

 _“What an asshole!”_  Mikaela thought, livid at Saren flat-out ignoring her and his habit of referring to her as girl and not by her name, _“No, calling this prick an asshole is an insult to all those decent assholes out there.”_

 _“I mean, what kind of ass refuses to use someone’s name when that person told them it?”_ Mikaela thought then she remembered who she was with, _“oh, that’s right. An ass who doesn’t like humans.”_

Mikaela crossed her arms leaned against the trunk of the tree as she waited for Saren to finish his report. She turned her head when she caught something shining from the corner of her eye and spotted a batarian holding his sniper rifle and aimed it at her.

 _“No, not at me….”_ , Mikaela thought with a frown as she followed the line of his barrel as best she could and realized who he was truly aiming at, _“He’s aiming at Saren.”_

Mikaela didn’t even think, didn’t even cared to her that Saren hated humans to the point of he would willing kill them if it wasn’t for the Council. She just reacted, her body already turning and moving towards the turian Spectre as the batarian squeezed the trigger.

Mikaela slammed into Saren just as the rifle fired and she felt something tearing through her back bone and exiting out from her chest, just above her right breast, as she and Saren fell to the ground.

Saren wrapped his arms around her and rolled her underneath him as he raised his gun and open fire on the batarian. The bullets tore through his body, killing him instantly with the headshot, or it could have been the shoot that tore through his heart that killed him.

Saren spoke, still watching the area that the body had fallen.” The threat has been dealt with, you’re safe now, gir—“

Saren had raised his hand and saw something wet and red glistening off his gloved hand. He frowned at it and looked down at the human girl and saw something red spilling from under her jacket.   
Saren opened her jacket and saw that she had a gunshot wound above her right breast, and it was bleeding. He immediately applied pressure to the wound, in order to prevent more blood loss.

Saren thought as he took out his medigel and started to apply it to the wound. _“How the hell did she get hit? I had already acted as that batarian bastard started to fire at us”_ , Then he remembered that she was running towards him and had thrown herself on him. _“She couldn’t have? Did she see the sniper before I did and reacted to it before he even fired? And why would she save a turian who she knows hates humans?”_

Her skin was slowly losing that vibrant glow and turning pale, her skin becoming feverish as he finished applying medigel and started to bandage up the wound.

Saren scooped her up in his arms and hurried towards the Alliance battle cruiser. _“She needs professional help now.”_

 

Mikaela slowly came to at the sound of voices around her and she slowly opened her eyes but closed them immediately at the bright light shining into her eyes. She slowly sat up, eyes still tightly closed, and pushed the lamp away from her.

Mikaela rubbed her eyes and slowly open them again, blinking a couple of times in order to get rid of the fog. She looked around her when she finally regained her vision and saw that she was in a make-shift medical room. She moved her right arm but doubled over as a sharp pain shoot through her entire body, making her dizzy and sick.

Mikaela thought as she slowly sat up clenching her arm to her side. _“Owie! What the hell was that?!”_

Mikaela started to search her body for any wounds and her hand stopped over her right breast when she felt something soft there. She opened her jacket to find herself staring at bandage.

Mikaela thought as she stared dumbly at it. _“I got shot! How the hell did I get shot!?”_ Then it came to her and she remembered, _“Oh! That’s right! I saved Saren from that sniper, so I took the bullet instead of him.”_

Mikaela climbed out of cot and made her way towards the flap. She pushed it to the side and stepped out. Mikaela found herself looking out towards the ruined town of her home. She stared at it, dumbly, unable to react properly to the destruction of her home.

Mikaela slowly came aware of noises around her and turned her head to see familiar and unfamiliar figures there. She recognized the unfamiliar people as Alliance soldiers and they were either treating the wounded or speaking to the survivors.

 _“Survivors? How did I know that they were survivors?”_  Mikaela thought numbly as she looked away from them to stare out at the ruin and burned landscape before her.

Then she spotted black bags to the right of her and looked over towards them, slowly as the noise around her started to fade away, leaving a buzz sounding .

Body bags.

That’s what they were. They were body bags for those who didn’t make it, for those who were unlucky enough to not move faster to get away from the slavers. Mikaela walked towards them, stumbling every once and a while as she made her way towards them.

Mikaela walked towards a large body bag and found herself looking down at a familiar tear-shape diamond necklace on top of the material of the bag and dropped to her knees by it.

She reached out with trembling hands and removed it from the bodies under it; it revealed her mother and father, lying side by side. Her mother had a hole where her heart was and her father was slightly burn and had multiple bullet holes on his body.

The material slipped from her numb fingertips as she stared down at her parents, numb and cold, as she sat there. Mikaela couldn’t feel anything. Not sadness. Not angry. Nothing. She couldn’t feel anything, it was almost like her emotions had vanished, leaving only an empty shell behind.

Mikaela looked towards the pendant and reached out to pick it up gently by the chain. She dangled it before her eyes as the sunlight caught it and made it glitter as it slowly circled around on the chain. Mikaela held her other hand under the diamond and she released the chain, the pendant necklace dropped onto her palm and fisted her fingers around the necklace as she held it to her chest as she sat there in silence.

Mikaela became aware of footsteps coming towards her and turned around in her spot to see a man walking towards her.

He was an intimidating tall man with thick, unruly raven-black hair and vibrant green eyes with a nicely trimmed go-tee on his chin. He had solid muscles yet lean and he also wore an eyepatch over his right eye, giving him an even more dangerous appearance.

He came to stand by her side as he stared down at the bodies of her parents, leaving Mikaela to stare up at him. She looked away and continued to stare at her parents.

The man spoke, breaking the silence that settled over them.” We can’t find your brother’s body, but according to the batarians that we captured, he was inside the house when they threw a grenade into it and when it exploded.”

Mikaela heard him tell her about her brother and his death but she couldn’t react to it. She didn’t know how too, she felt so cold and numb inside, it was like her heart died when she was force to leave her father and brother behind and when her mother lifted her behind, to lead those batarians away from her.

Mikaela finally stood up and finally did react, but it was a reaction that no one was expecting her to show finally after so long of not reacting.

She just stared at her parents a minute longer before she turned around sharply and quickly and walked away from them, not turning around as she walked back to the make-shift clinic.

Lachlan watched the sixteen-year-old disappeared into the tent before he turned back to the bodies before him. But he wasn’t looking at the man; he was looking at the woman.

She bears a striking resemblance to his missing mother, down to the facial appearance, hair and eyes color. It was almost like staring into a picture of her.

Lachlan thought as he was filled with curiosity of the woman’s identical likeness to his mother. _” I should get her blood tested; I want to know why she looks like my mother.”_

Lachlan stared at her for a moment before he shouted for one of his officers.” Kevin! Come here!”

Kevin ran over to him and stopped by his side, saluting him.” Yes, Admiral Sinclair?”

Lachlan said as he looked away from the woman and gestured towards her with the incline of his chin.” I want her and her husband move to a better location.”

“Yes, sir!” Kevin said before he looked over at the clinic where the girl had disappeared into.” I wasn’t expecting that did of reaction of her, their daughter.”

Lachlan didn’t make a comment, he didn’t want to, but Kevin was continuing on, making him angrier by the second.

“I mean, what kind of daughter doesn’t cry when her parents’ corpses are before her and didn’t show any type of hope or sadness when told her brother’s body wasn’t found,” Kevin said, shaking his head in disapproval.” I wouldn’t be surprise if she didn’t get along with her parents. That she’s glad that they’re died.”

Lachlan’s thinly held temper finally snapped and he back-handed the man hard and watched as the younger man fell to the ground. He waited until Kevin looked up at him with a swollen cheek and a busted lip before he spoke.

Lachlan spoke, softly but there was angry in his voice.” What she’s doing is one of the ways to grieve, Kevin. Never ever make that type of assumption in my presence or behind my back, do I make myself clear?”

Kevin spoke, nodding his head.” Crystal clear, sir.”

“Good.” Lachlan said as he turned around on his heel.” Good, now get up and get back to your job.”

Lachlan thought as he walked up the hill. _“And something tells me that she’s going to react differently once she gets over this first stage of grieving.”_

 

Saren was watching the human man walking away from the downed man from far and turned away, and made his way down the hill and into the forest. His destination is the Slaver ship, which was still here as the Alliance was focus on survivors and not on the slavers. Saren had gotten the location of the ship from another batarian that was sneaking back to the slave ship and tortured him for information. That happened when Saren was carrying the human girl and he had spotted the batarian creeping away, when the Alliance soldiers had taken care of his partners and saved the humans that were in the town below the hill.

There was something more to Mikaela Shepard then being just a mere sixteen-year-old human girl, someone had paid a Captain of a slave ship to attack a specific colony in order to get one person. And Saren isn’t going stop until he figures it out, he needs to make sure that Mikaela is a threat to the Council and to everyone around her.

 

**Terminus Systems**

**Omega**

A woman, somewhere between her late thirties or early forties, jolted awake when her comm started to beep, she sat up and pushed herself off her mattress and made her way towards the comm terminal.

She hit the connect button and almost disconnect it when she saw the batarian thug, Sanak, appearing on the screen before her, but she didn’t do it and that was only for two reasons: He worked with Aria T’Loak and the Pirate Queen was her only friend here on Omega or anywhere else for that matter.

The woman asked, not even keeping her annoyance at being awakened at this time from her voice or stance.” What is it, Sanak?”

Sanak answered her, deliberately ignoring her tone and stance.” Aria wants to see you, she has something that meant spark your interest, Raven.”

The woman simply known as Raven inclined her head towards him, a silent way of telling him that she understood and would come, before she turned off the comm and started at the black screen as she wacked her brain to figure out what could make Aria think that this could peg her interest so fast.

But she couldn’t think of anything, even though there was one thing that could but Raven was purposely trying not to think about it, she didn’t want that to become real.

Raven got dressed into an outfit similar to that of Aria, but hers were all black matching her nickname perfectly. She hosteled her pistol on her hip and made her way of her apartment room and headed towards Afterlife.

 

Raven arrived at Afterlife in record time, as the only close friend of Aria; she knows that the asari hates to be kept waiting. So, Raven breezed pass the krogan guards, neither of them stopped her from entering as both knew her well and were friends with her.

Raven entered the club and had to fight a disgusted flinch from showing as the noises and smell hit her hard as soon as she stepped in.

Raven sighed as she made her way towards the booth that Aria is always found in. _” the bitch knows I hate coming here, so she’s doing this just to get back at me for calling her an old bitch that one time.”_

Raven climbed up the staircase to the upper level, happy that no drunkard tried to chat her up during her trip over to the stairs, where, as always, the music’s volume was at least bearable and the crowds were somewhat tolerable. She walked across the club to where Aria T’Loak was sitting at a table in an elevated booth.

As always an asari handmaiden was seated on either side of her. Standing close by was the largest krogan, who was also a biotic, like the three asari before her.

Raven crossed her arms as she stared down at Aria, her irritation shown clearly on her face.” You got a lot of nerve calling me here at this hour.”

Aria smirked up at her longtime friend.” Still hate crowds, Rave?”

Raven snapped as she rubbed her temple as she felt a sudden ache forming there.” If I didn’t like you as much, I would have punched you.”

Aria laughed.” Like I never heard that before.”

Raven sighed as she looked at Aria once again.” So what was so important that you have to summon me here?”

“Mindoir was attacked.” Aria said, suddenly serious now.

Raven looked at her with an emotionless face and stance, but to Aria and those present, they could see her face and stance was tense. It was clear that this information was important to Raven.

Raven sat down and looked at Aria.” What happened?”

“It was as you and I predicated, Raven.” Aria looked away before looking back at her friend.” They hired slavers to try to kidnap her under the cover that slavers attacked the colony randomly and made off with her and killing her family in the progress.”

Raven rubbed her face as she stood up and paced the booth.” Fuck! I thought they would leave her alone after I died!”

Aria stood up and walked over to her” You knew that this was going too happened if you died and you were proven right. You wouldn’t have known that this would have become the outcome if it happened or not.”

Raven looked at Aria and sighed.” You’re right but I don’t like this.”

“I don’t either, but we at least know now that they would go any length just to get her.” Aria said as she placed her hand on her shoulder in a gesture of comfort.” And now, we can make our move.”

Raven nodded her head.” Agreed. I’ll go to the Citadel as planned….”

Aria smiled at her friend.” While I’ll dig up more information.”


	2. Chapter Two: New Life and New Danger in the Citadel.

**Chapter Two**

**Attican Traverse**

**Two weeks after the attack on Mindoir**

Mikaela knew that her way of handling her grief of losing her parents and older brother was marking her as heartless by the crew of the battle cruiser but she honestly didn’t care what they thought of her lack of crying and wailing. She just couldn’t express her sadness over their loss the proper way. So she turned to the next best thing, by simply showing a devil-may-care façade.

Heck, Mikaela even bite some officers’ heads off when they came up to her to apologize over the loss of her family. She saw red at that and snapped at them, telling them that using fancy words such as apologies wouldn’t give her her family back. And after that, no one ever spoke to her about her family or offered apologies or words of comfort, and she was lifted alone.

Not that Mikaela was complaining, she welcomed her alone-time and was thrilled that everyone gave her a wide berth. Even Admiral Lachlan Sinclair seems to be avoiding her.

Mikaela pursed her lips in thought at that. _‘You know for a guy who saved my colony and brought me onto his ship. He seemed to show little to no interest in my well-being. Geez, and they call me heartless’_

Mikaela was too lost in her way thoughts in pay attention to where she was going, so she found herself, face first, slamming into someone’s rock hard chest. Instincts made Mikaela reached out and grabbed on tightly onto them, so that she wouldn’t fall. Mikaela barely tensed up when she felt arms wrapping around her and pressing her against their front in order to keep her on her feet.

 _‘Hmm, at least they’re thoughtful enough to keep me from making a fool of myself.’_  Mikaela thought as she sighed.

“Do you always make it a habit of bumping into me whenever you roam around places?”

At the sound of Saren’s voice above her head and the realization that it was him that she slammed into and him that was holding her in his arms that made Mikaela go stiff as a board.

 _‘Annnnd of all the million crew members on this accursed ship, I somehow manage to slam into the one person that absolutely can’t stand me because I am a human. Lovely!’_ Mikaela thought bitterly as she tipped her head back and stared up at Saren, speaking outloud now.” Well, if you hadn’t popped out of nowhere like that I wouldn’t have bump into you.”

Saren looked around and behind them before looking back at her with a bemused expression on his face (well at least she hoped it was bemused because turians seem to have possessed the ultimate poker face from all the races in the known galaxy).” This corridor doesn’t have any doors and I rounded the corner just twenty minutes ago, girl.”

Mikaela felt a blush forming, starting from her cheeks and down to the top mounds of her breasts, embarrassed at his words and her own attempt to blame him.” Er….right…so I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, so sue me.”

Saren cocked his head to the side (which was eerily similar to that of a bird of prey and that may be creepy to others but to Mikaela thought it was cute) and his mandibles barely moved as he stared down at Mikaela through hooded lids.

If Saren was completely honest with himself, then he found Mikaela Shepard to be very beautiful. He had noticed her beauty back on Mindoir but she was dirty, covered in dirt and scratches during her ran through the forest. But now that she was clean, Mikaela was even more beautiful and he noticed that she had light freckles that dusted her cheekbones and her nose, given her a mischievous-like beauty, even more childlike then when he first examined her.

Saren asked, drawing his thoughts back to the present.” How are you handling your new environment, Ms. Shepard?”

Mikaela said as she looked around.” Great as long as getting dirty looks and being called a cold-hearted bitch when they think that one’s out of ear-shot is called handling it well.”

Saren cocked a brow-ridge at her.” Cold-hearted bitch?”

Mikaela shrugged, nonchalant.” Yeah, apparently how I handled expressing my grief is highly frowned upon in human culture. What a shocker, right?”

Saren crossed his arms as he continued to stare down at the human girl.” Human culture? Are you not a human, Ms. Shepard?”

Mikaela stepped up to Saren and whispered to him,” Yeah, but I kind of this habit of expressing my deep dislike and disregard towards humans from my grandmother.”

“Ah, I heard about the famous Admiral Regina Shepard and her deep hatred for humanity.” Saren said, thinking back about the raven-haired human woman.

Mikaela placed her hands on her hips as she rocked back on her heels.” She didn’t hate humanity, she just hated the stupid stuff that humanity does” Mikaela thought as she recalled the numerous times her father had complained about the stunt that his mother had pulled during her time in the Alliance, _‘Then again, my grandmother has done pretty stupid stuff as well so she really didn’t have any room to make comments about humanity’s stupidity when she was doing stupid stuff as well.’_

Saren asked, drawing Mikaela from her thoughts and looked up at the turian Spectre.” Besides begin called cold-hearted bitch, how are you doing up?”

Mikaela sighed as she leaned against the wall.” Tired.”

Saren asked, coming to stand before her.” Not sleeping?”

Mikaela shook her head.” No, not that. I’m sleeping fine.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I’m just tired of hearing people telling how sorry they are that my parents are dead and my brother’s body has disappeared.” Mikaela mumbled, before sighing and leaning her head back against the wall.” As if saying sorry and expressing sympathy can ever bring my parents back.”

Saren asked, looking away from her exposed neck.” Do you know what will happen to you?”

Mikaela blinked opened her eyes and looked at him.” Yeah, apparently the Alliance brass has agreed that I would be under the care and guardianship of an Alliance Lieutenant named David Anderson.

“I see.” Saren said, not even betraying his true emotions as he appeared nonchalant of the news. _’ So the Alliance decided to have Anderson care for the human girl. That means they must have realized that there’s more going on behind this raid.’_

Mikaela turned her head when she heard footsteps coming towards them and spotted Admiral Sinclair coming towards them. She pushed off the wall and came to stand near Saren. Saren blinked his eyes at her sudden appearance in his space and followed her gaze to see Admiral Sinclair coming towards them.

Lachlan stopped before them and looked at Mikaela, addressing her.” Lieutenant Anderson will be arriving within the hour, Ms. Shepard. I suggest you return to the clinic.”

Mikaela was tempted to tell this guy where to shove that commanding tone but the thought of getting shoot out of the airlock had, barely, kept her tongue to herself.

Mikaela sighed and turned around, not before inclining her head in farewell to the turian Spectre who returned her gesture with one of his own.

Saren and Lachlan watched Mikaela disappear around the corner before facing each other, they silently said their farewells and made their way past each other, going to their original destinations.

 

Lieutenant David Anderson aboard the battle cruiser, the Retribution, and looked around for the Commanding officer, Admiral Lachlan Sinclair, a man known for his dislike for unwanted personal on his ship. But this time, Admiral Sinclair had made contact with the board of the Alliance Military and asked to send someone to his location, which was in the Attican Traverse, above Mindoir.

According to his report a large group of slavers raid the human colony stationed there and killed some of the farmers and escape with some of them, and some were lifted behind thanks to his arrival, when he was on patrol with the turian Spectre, Saren Arterius. Her life was saved by the timely arrival of Admiral Lachlan Sinclair, who took her on board his ship and had immediately contacted the Board of the situation.

But he didn’t call to give his report to the board.

The real reason behind his willingness to call in was because of a sixteen-year-old girl. She had lost her family, consist of her parents and an older brother, during the attack and she has no living family, leaving her truly alone in the world.

According to Lachlan report, Saren had saved her from slavers and was taking her back to the ship when she had taken a sniper shoot that was meant for Saren and she survived the wound as the bullet had nearly missed her heart.

That part of the report had David frowning in puzzlement. A human, a girl at that, had enough courage and daring to step between Saren and a bullet and taking the pain and wound of the bullet, instead of him. He was sure that Saren was bluffed by her selfless action; it didn’t match to how humans and turians always treated each other after the First Contact War.

The other Admirals believed that David would be the best choice to go and escort the girl back to the Citadel, where they requested that David to be her legal guardian until she turned eighteen. But there was a problem with that plan, even if it was a very good plan.

David didn't know the first thing about raising and taking care of children, especially sixteen-year-old girls who lost their entire family and friends to slavers right before her eyes. He and his wife divorced without having any children, so he really lacked the skills at raising any child. And he also didn't even believe that if they would be a good match personality wise as, according to Admiral Sinclair, the girl has shown herself to be quite the smartass during her time living among his crew and his ship.

David found himself opening her file once again to reread it on his omni-tool. He’s been doing this ever since he received the report and mission.

It stated both the doctor's and therapist's report that she displayed an unusual calm and emotionless facade when she was rescued and when dealing with the loss of her families' death. It also stated on their report that she had fought back against her attackers, and by doing so that she had received bruises and cuts from them in retaliation at her sudden feistiness.

It wasn't her feistiness that got David's full attention back on the Citadel and it wasn't what made him agree to go get her and bring her back with him, so that he could be her guardian. It was her calm and uncaring nature towards her family deaths that had him agreeing with the Board.

Somehow David knew that it was all a false facade, just a teenager acting as if nothing facade her. A front that she put up in order to keep the pain and loneliness that was caused by the sudden death of her entire family from touching her and it was also a way to keep sympathy and pity directed towards her. And that could also explain why she was quite the smartass when she came on board, it was her way of putting up armor.

He snapped the folder closed when he saw a man walking towards him and David immediately recognized him as Admiral Lachlan Sinclair. Now, he never met the man in person but he knew him only by stories told him from his old crew and from his file given to him by Admiral Hackett.

And the man before him certainly matched his description and the stories.

Admiral Lachlan Sinclair was an intimidating tall man with thick, unruly raven-black hair and vibrant green eyes with a nicely trimmed go-tee on his chin. He had solid muscles yet lean and he also wore a eyepatch over his right eye, giving him an even more dangerous appearance.

David turned to face Admiral Sinclair." I'm Lieutenant David Anderson. I have come to escort the girl back with me to the Citadel."

Lachlan crossed his arms as he stared Anderson up and down, which gave David the impression that the Scottish Admiral was actually sizing him up for a body bag,” I know who you are, Lieutenant Anderson, a damn shame about that mission back on Camala.”

David didn’t react outwardly towards that comment, he knew that Lachlan was a hard man to get along with and he purposely will pick at wounds of those around him. And he also know that when it came to a fist-fight that Lachlan would win, the man was known for his ruthless and cunning in close-quarters combat.

So David didn’t say anything as Lachlan stared at him for what felt like hours, until the Scottish Admiral finally decided to drop the tension between them after David didn’t take the bait.

Lachlan spoke, “Alright. Follow me."

David followed after Admiral Sinclair, wondering about the girl he was about to meet and also wondered why no photo was taken of her. So he didn't know what she looked like, so an image of a petite, normal-looking girl wearing all black popped into his head as he and Lachlan entered a room and that image shattered when he finally got his first look at the sixteen-year-old girl.

Even though she had some cuts and bruises, which she obviously received when she fought back against the slavers, the sixteen-year-old was a stunning pretty girl. David could tell that when she loses that girl prettiness, she would be quite a stunningly beautiful woman.

She has an exquisite, delicate, heart-shaped face. The eyes were disturbing, with an exotic slant. Such vibrant green eyes in that fair face, so green and clear, like colored crystal. The lips were soft and full and the nose straight and slender. A thick fringe of flame lashes framed those extraordinary eyes, while red brows arched gently above them. Her hair was fiery red, too, in tight little ringlets surrounding her face, giving her fair skin a glow like polished ivory.

She wore red bodysuit that has no covering on her legs and that is cut high on her hips, the bodysuit has a low-cut neckline and quarter-length sleeves peeking from the sleeves of the red jacket, and worn over the bodysuit but hangs low on her hips is black pants, and dark gray combat boots and the fingerless gloves. Her pants are worn over her combat boots.

David titled his head to the side as he examined her more closely and realized that her hair wasn't a normal red color. It was like the sunset back on earth, a red-gold color. A very beautiful color.

The girl was sitting on a medical bed with her legs were crossed over each other as she was toying with a diamond pendant that was latched around her neck by a thin chain. She obviously wasn't aware that David and Lachlan had entered the medical bay, and if she was aware of their presence, she didn't even let it known to them, which David found that very impressive yet also very disrespectful.

Lachlan headed towards the doctor but not before motioning David to go ahead and speak with the sixteen-year-old girl. David inclined his head towards him before taking a deep breath and let it out and made his way towards the girl.

David stopped before her and waited until the girl finally acknowledges his presence by looking up at him." Mikaela Shepard, I’m Lieutenant David Anderson of the Alliance Military.”

Mikaela gave him an once-over that was sarcastic.” Yeah, that uniform kind of shouted ‘I’m from the Alliance Military’, Captain Obvious.”

David thought as he felt his jaw clenched. _‘You can bottle that sarcasm and sell it on the shelf. I don’t think this is part of her grieving anymore.’_

Mikaela looked away from him as she twisted the chain of the necklace between her index finger and thumb.” So what do you want?”

David sat down next to her, speaking to her patiently and kindly.” I’ve come to escort you to the Citadel.”

The word ‘Citadel’ caught her attention and she looked up at him with excitement filled eyes.” Really? I’m truly going to the Citadel?”

David smiled at her, happy that she could show excitement besides the emotionless façade that she wore on her face before. “Yes, you’re going to the Citadel.”

Something must have clicked in her brain because she asked,” So I’m going to be living with you on the Citadel.”

He was impressed by how quick she was at putting the situation together; she had a very sharp and fast mind. It allowed her to put things together a lot faster than most teenagers her age.

David said, confirming her thought and assumption.” Yes, you’ll be living with me until you reached eighteen and after that you can decide what you want to do with your life.”

Mikaela turned her head, tearing her eyes away from the Alliance Lieutenant to look out the window and found herself staring out at Mindoir. She released the chain of her mother’s pendant from her neck, so that it was now resting between her breasts as she stared at her home.

 _‘No….’_ Mikaela thought as she tore her eyes away from it, _‘it’s no longer my home, and I lost everything back there. My home. My family and my innocence. So that’s no longer important to me, I have no reason to ever come back here.’_

David was watching her and realized, with a sad expression appeared on his face, that this girl was slowly coming to the realization that she no longer has a place to call home, as it was destroyed by the batarian slavers.

David couldn’t say sorry to her because he knew that she would lash out at him for that and she probably didn’t want to hear it after hearing it constantly according to the small note that the Therapist had attach to the file.

Lachlan walked over, drawing their attention to him.” We’re ready to continue our patrol.”

David stood up, with Mikaela standing up as well.” Then we better leave as well. Come on, Mikaela.”

Lachlan watched as David and Mikaela walked out of the room and looked down at the medical report that the doctor had given to him. He didn’t want to open it when they still here, despite the doctor’s advice to do so otherwise. But something told him that it was best that wait until they leave so that he could open it.

Lachlan tapped his password into the report and the file appeared on his omni-tool and read through the result of the blood test that was taken from both the woman and the girl.

He fell into a chair, finally finished reading the report and losing all the strength to stand. He cupped his mouth as he tossed the report on the table next to him, lost for words at what it meant.

It revealed his suspicion of the woman, something he was scared of.

She was his sister.

His mother must have been pregnant with her when she was taken by Cerberus and his sister had fallen into their hands after her birth, and that Mikaela Shepard was his niece. But it didn’t explain how his sister escapes from Cerberus and appeared to Mindoir.

But there was something else in the report that bluffed him, something that shouldn’t be there, and he’s going have to go directly to his outside sources, people that the Alliance would never trust, in order to get information about this, and he didn’t want the Alliance to know about.

 

David was delighted to find out that once Mikaela had opened up to him during their trip to the Citadel, she was showing more of her usual self before the tragedy on Mindoir. She wasn’t just only sarcastic and rude, she was actually very outgoing and upbeat sixteen-year-old girl who always seemed to look on the bright side of things and bring light to the darkness in situations. So, it was amazing to watch her open up towards him and his crew, she still possesses her sharp sense of humor, which made her seem like a bitch and she was also stubborn and short-tempered to the point of aggression but her natural character of wanting to cheer people up and help lighten the mood in times of crisis.

David could feel that Mikaela was already forming some type of bond with him, that she was already done grieving for her family and now honoring them by being her usual self. And he had to say, he liked this Mikaela. She was easy to like and impossible to hate. Dislike? Maybe. But even then, those ones are immediately charmed by her.

David was watching Mikaela stand before the _Hastings_ ’s primary viewport, as they entered into the Widow system, where the Citadel is located.

The magnificent space station served as the cultural, economic, and political center of the galaxy. From here, several thousand kilometers away, it resembled a five-pointed star: a quintet if long, thick arms extending out from a hollow central ring.

Even though he’d seen it many times before, David knew that Mikaela was marveled by its sheer size. The middle ring was ten kilometers in diameters; each arm was twenty-five kilometers long and five kilometers in breadth. In the twenty-seven hundred years since the Council was established on the Citadel, great cosmopolitan metropolises known as the wards had been constructed along each arm, entire cities built into the station’s multi-level interior. Forty million people from every species and sector across the known galaxy now made their homes here.

Mikaela let out a low whistle as she turned her head to look at David.” Wow! I’ve seen vids of it back home but I never knew it was this impressive in person!”

David walked over to her, laughing, as he placed his hand on her shoulder.” Yeah, that was my reaction when I first saw it as well.”

Mikaela asked,” do you grow tired of it?”

David shook his head,” No, this station will always impress me no matter how many times I see it.”

Mikaela grinned as she looked back to the impressive view before her.” I’ll like that.”

 

When they landed at the designated docking bay and made their way towards the custom office, David was slowly beginning to realize something about Mikaela Juliet Shepard and that was she had this ability to draw attention to her immediately and keep the attention on her. He was suspicious of it when the custom officer was flirting with her when he was getting her pass ready for her as soon as they entered the custom office. The custom officer was a human, so he just shrugged it off as a one-time thing, not something to worry about.

But ever since they lifted the office and started to make their way towards the elevators, that David was beginning to notice that turians, asaris and salarians were stopping whatever they were doing at the time and turning to look at David and Mikaela.

At first David wasn’t sure if they were looking at them as he caught them staring at him and the teenage girl walking alongside him, and had looked around them to see where they were looking at but he finally followed their line of vision to find that they were, indeed, looking at Mikaela.

David looked down at Mikaela and realized that it wasn’t only her prettiness that was drawn all this attention. She was like a live wire, full of verve and pulsing with electric energy, that it practically radiated from her, and that is what attracted a lot of attention, and maybe admirers, to her.

David placed his hand on her shoulder and quickly hurried towards the open elevator and they stepped in. He noticed that Mikaela was looking at him as the doors closed with a confused expression on her face but she didn’t ask him anything, she’ll probably figured out the reason out on her own. She was a smart girl, as she had numerously times told him before.

When they stepped out of the elevator and into the pandemonium, Mikaela was greeted by light and sound that was the ward. Throngs of people filled the pedways, individuals of every species coming and going in all directions.

Mikaela looked above her to see rapid-transit cars zooming by overhead on the monorail.” Wow, this place can give New York City a run for its money.”

David smiled down at her.” Yes, this is impressive.”

Mikaela looked up at him, asking.” Where do you live?”

David gestured ahead of them.” My place is only twenty minutes away by foot.”

Mikaela smiled as he started to walk ahead of her.” Then I guess we’re walking.”

 

**Twenty minutes later**

Mikaela entered his apartment before him, in order to explore her new home. David smiled as he was immediately reminded of a cat exploring her new home by how Mikaela was acting.

David asked, as he gestured up- and downstairs.” There are two rooms, one upstairs and the other downstairs. Which one do you want?”

Mikaela looked over towards the upstairs one.” Upstairs. I’ll give you downstairs as you’re probably dead tired when you get home when you get off-shore leave from the Alliance, right?”

David smiled down at her as he ruffled her hair.” Yeah, you’re right, Mikaela.”

Mikaela shook her head, causing her ringlets to fall over or rest on her shoulders.” Aye, aye, Cap!”

Mikaela hurried to her new room, anxious and excited to start exploring her room.

David smiled as he watch her ran to her new room, pleased that she’s accepting her new life here on the Citadel. Now he just needs to enroll her to the local high school here on the Citadel, so that she could finish high school. David may not have any experience with handling kids but he felt that he and Mikaela are doing okay for the first time since she and he had met back on Mindoir.

His omni tool suddenly chimed and he opened it up to see a message from Admiral Hackett, telling him to meet with him and the new Ambassador of Humanity to tell them about Mindoir.

David sighed as he shouted upstairs towards Mikaela.” Kaela! I have to step out for a minute. Can you hold the fort while I’m gone?!”

Mikaela ran out of the railing of the balcony and leaned over it,” Yeah, I got this. I’ll hold it down until you get back.”

David saluted her as he smiled.” Thanks, Private Shepard. I’m counting on you.”

Mikaela waved at him as she watched him leave the apartment. She pushed away from the railing and headed back to her room. Mikaela entered her new room and spun around in a small circle as she looked around. It was a lot bigger than her old room back on the farm at Mindoir but she could get used to it and make it into her room. But all it needs is items suitable for the comfort and joy for a sixteen-year-old girl.

Mikaela patted her pockets to remember that David had given her credits in order to buy the things that she needs, _‘I better get shopping for myself. I need clothes, products and among other things in order to settle here.’_

Mikaela walked out of her room and grabbed the rail as she took the turn fast and sharp, to prevent herself from falling, and ran down the stairs. She walked out of the apartment, locking the door behind her.

Unaware that someone was watching her from across the way, watching her leave the apartment building and head into the wards.

 

**Wards**

 

Mikaela was overwhelmed by the sound and lights of the ads that flashed across the vids around her, outside of shops. She looked around, watching the vids in order to get what they are selling inside.

Mikaela finally stopped in front of a shop and looked up at the vid above it, _‘finally…undergarments, I need those.’_

Mikaela stepped inside and started to look around the store to search for undergarments to her liking. She stopped before a display and eyes the set on the doll.

It was a two-piece lace set and as Mikaela examined the set, she found that it suited her perfectly. It was a lace boyshort panty and strait bandeau top. Mikaela grabbed three sets of it, one in red, hot pink, black and white, and her favorite colors. She walked over to the cashier and paid for them with the credits. She looked around as the cashier bagged her items, frowning now, as she got the sudden sense that someone was watching her.

Mikaela turned back towards the cashier and took the bag from them and walked away, acting as if nothing is wrong. She walked among the crowd of shoppers and visitors, bumping and jostling into them as she tried to find a way to shake whoever is following her.

Mikaela was too focus on whoever was watching her to notice that there was someone in front of her and she slammed right into them, striking the right side of her face into their armor.

She was knocked backwards but would have been fallen to the ground if she hadn’t had the arms of the person she bump into wrapped themselves around her back. Mikaela rubbed the right side of her face as she turned her head and found herself looking up at a blue-tattooed carapace turian male.

Blue avian eyes meet green mammal eyes as they stood face-to-face, when he straightened up with her leaning backwards on his arms.

Mikaela stared up at the turian male before her and started to feel a blush slowly warming her cheeks, neck and the tips of her ears. He was handsome, well to her, with a tall and slender body frame and a crest on the back of his skull, with his light carapace marked with a blue strip going horizontally across his cheeks and nose.

Mikaela thought as she had a tight hold of his armor. _’I really need to start paying attention to where I am going, I keep slamming into hot turian guys…..Then again, it’s not that bad.’_

And by his blue armor, Mikaela knew that he was a C-Sec officer and she felt herself go limp with relief as she straightened up as well, realizing that she stands to his chest, as he stands to six feet above her five foot seven inches frame.

C-Sec officer asked as he slowly released her, as if he didn’t want too.” Are you okay?”

Mikaela slowly nodded her head, regaining her hormones firmly under her control.” Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, about that. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

C-Sec asked as he examined her more closely.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here before.”

Mikaela smiled as she slowly shook her head.” That’s because I just moved here. I was on Mindoir.”

C-Sec stared at her as he asked.” The colony that was attacked by batarians slavers?”

Mikaela inclined her head towards him, praising him for his correct assumption.

C-Sec officer winced,” I’m sorr-“

But his apology was halted when Mikaela reached up and placed her fingers on his mouth, preventing it from coming out. She knew that she surprised him by her action, because his eyes widen but she noticed that his mandibles also twitched as soon as she put her fingers on his mouth.

Mikaela glanced down at the mandibles, _‘so I have to pay attention to the mandibles to get a good read on his emotions. I don’t think he can control that.’_

Mikaela looked back at the C-Sec officer and shook her head as her lids drifted close over her eyes,” Don’t apologize to me. I’ve been hearing that ever since I tell them about being from Mindoir and apologizes can’t bring anyone back from the dead or change things to how they were before.”

Mikaela removed her fingers from his mouth and smiled up at him as she titled her head to the side.” Bye and thanks for saving me from that massive fail.”

Mikaela stepped to the side of him and walked passed him, heading towards a shop that sells bathroom products and items. The C-Sec officer turned to watch her disappear when his partner and friend walked out of a small shop to stand by him.

Chellick asked when he noticed that his partner was watching a human girl walking through the crowd, away from them.” What’s wrong, Garrus?”

Garrus Vakarian looked at his partner before turning back to watch the girl but found that she had vanished in the crowd.”….It’s nothing. Let’s continue with our patrol.”

Garrus and Chellick turned and walked away, but Garrus looked over his shoulder, hoping for another glimpse of a human girl with red-gold hair and flashing green eyes.

Mikaela spotted the turian C-Sec officer from her spot on the balcony, that was looking over head, looking over his shoulder as he and his partner walked away, as if he was trying to catch a glimpse of her through the crowd and that made her surprisingly very happy.

Mikaela pumped her fists in the air in excitement as she thought. _’Yes! I am worth of a double-take from a turian!’_

Then she remembered that she didn’t stick around to get his name or tell him her name, causing the happy teenager to slump over the rail in depression.

Mikaela slapped a hand on her forehead as she angrily scolded herself. _‘Smooth move there, Mikaela. You were too busy ogling the guy and wanting to continue shopping that you totally forgot to get his name and tell him your name.’_

Mikaela continued to scold herself, unaware that someone was watching her from a safe and hidden section of the wards.

She sighed and pushed herself away from the rails, looking around for more clothing shops. _’Now, is there any shops that sells dancewear, dancing rails and poles.’_

Mikaela quickly spotted her target and hurried down the stairs, almost knocking into two asari on the way.

Mikaela shouted an apology over her shoulder but didn’t stop as she continued down the stairs. The taller and curvier of the two followed Mikaela with her eyes before looking down at the younger one next to her and gestured with her chin, telling her to go after the human girl.

The younger one bowed her head and gracefully walked down the stairs, following the human inside the dance shop.

Mikaela looked around the shop, grabbing clothing and shoes to replace the ones she had lost in the fire. She walked along the walls of the store, looking at the dance rails and poles. Mikaela reached out to touch one standing rail but went rigid when she felt someone standing behind her. She straightened up and turned around to find herself face to face with a being that she had never considered being so close to.

An asari.

The asari are a race that more closely resemble humans. Human women, that is; tall and slender, with well-proportioned figures. The asari were an asexual species—the concept of gender didn’t really apply. But to what Mikaela can tell by looking at the asari before her that they were female. Even their facial features were human…..although they had an angelic, almost ethereal quality to them. Their complexion was tinged with a blue or greenish hue. Only the backs of their heads betrayed their alien origins. Instead of hair, they had wavy folds of sculpted skin….not entirely unattractive, but a disconcertingly alien feature on a species that was otherwise so human in appearance.

Mikaela admired the asari as they work as consorts and dancers due to their natural sex appeal but they are also respected and admired for being the most powerful race by the other races despite this image.

The asari smiled at Mikaela, saying.” Hi, my name is Sadie.”

Mikaela mentally bitch-slapped herself and introduced herself.” Hi, my name is Mikaela Shepard.”

Sadie smiled at her once again.” I know, I heard about you.”

Mikaela felt her excitement immediately died away as her face returned to the cold expression she had on when someone was going to express their sympathies. _‘When is the day that I don’t have to say my name and get immediately recognized for losing my family and surviving the raid is going to come?’_

Mikaela turned on her heel and started to walk away, towards the counter.” And good-bye.”

Sadie was surprised by the sudden yet elegant movement for a moment before she got over it and turned her head to see her paying for her things and then leaving.

Sadie hurried after Mikaela.” Wait! Why are you leaving?”

Mikaela shot the asari a dirty look over her shoulder.” Why? Because you’re going to say how sorry you are for my lose and give them those big pity eyes as you look at me, that’s why I’m leaving.”

Sadie blinked at the human girl, realizing that this human girl was able to perfectly guessed her action when she first introduced herself. _‘So that’s why madam wanted me to go after her. She was able to see what I didn’t and knew that this human girl needs her help before it gets even worse.’_

Sadie hurried over to Mikaela, grabbing her arm once she caught up to the fast-walking girl. The asari maiden knew she surprised the human girl when she was able to catch up to her and grab her arm in order to stop her.

“Listen, Mikaela.” Sadie hurriedly explained herself once she saw the angry and annoyance in the human girl’s glowing green eyes and clenched teeth.” I was sent to you by my mistress. She wants to meet you and teach you how to control your biotics properly.”

Sadie felt Mikaela’s muscles tensed underneath her grasp and immediately realized that she was taken aback that someone was able to figure out that she have biotic abilities but it also made her realize in surprisement that the human girl was keeping it a secret by the nervous and agitated shifting of her stance.

Sadie asked, her eyes blinking owlishly at the human girl before her.” No one knew that you have biotic abilities?”

Mikaela chewed on her bottom lip, a nervous habit, before she explained.” My paternal grandmother didn’t want me to go through the trouble of being a biotic child. She didn’t want the Alliance to decide my future for me. She made me promise never to reveal it to anyone, except for the people back in Mindoir.”

Sadie nodded her head and grabbed her other arm and gave both arms an reassuring squeeze.” Mikaela, please come to The Red Lotus Lounge, you need to properly control and use your biotic. It’s dangerous for you and everyone around you for you to continue doing this without being properly trained.”

Mikaela was silent for a moment and Sadie was almost worried that the human girl wouldn’t agree to it but the asari maiden was relieved when she smiled and nodded her head, accepting Sadie’s mistress’s teaching.”

Sadie quickly gave Mikaela the direction to The Red Lotus Lounge and bid the human girl a fond farewell, promising to keep in contact with Mikaela, wanting to be friends with her as Sadie was genuinely interest in her apparent acceptance of the human girl towards Sadie.

Sadie hurried up the stairs where her mistress was waiting and stopped before her, bowing her head towards the older asari before her.

“Seems like you were completely charmed by the woman-child, Sadie, even though she really hadn’t done anything else.” The older asari said with a smile on her lips.

Sadie looked up at the asari before her and smiled at her.” Yes, I could tell that she was quite different than most humans. She’s honest and genuine in her emotions and thoughts, Mistress Kateri.”

Kateri looked over to see Mikaela heading towards the apartment that she was living in with Lieutenant David Anderson. “Yes, it’s probably due to her grandmother. She was a role model for her granddaughter when she was a child and she was still considered one after her death and as the girl matured.”

Sadie looked at Kateri, puzzled by how familiar her voice was.” It sounds like you knew Admiral Regina Shepard.”

Kateri smiled at her student.” I did know the Admiral, she was an beautiful woman with an equally beautiful heart and she had won the heart of a certain turian general to the point that that said general will never forget her, even in death.”

“How romantic.” Always all the wistful Sadie said as she and Kateri walked away, heading towards the Red Lotus Lounge.

 

**Citadel**

**Presidium Ring**

**Howard Apartment room**

 

The Presidium is the gleaming heart of the Citadel. It is located in the 10km wide central ring of the station, home to the various government offices of the Citadel Council, as well as embassies for all of the species represented in the Citadel. While the Wards are home to most of the Citadel's population and are considered livelier, the Presidium is considered to be the province of Citadel space's most elite and powerful individuals.

The interior of the Presidium is landscaped to resemble a lush parkland on a 'G' type planet (using the Systems Alliance's Morgan-Keenan classification system). No detail was overlooked, boasting a large freshwater lake, verdant fields of grass, trees, and clouds, as well as artificial sunlight and gentle breezes. The Presidium goes through a brief day-night cycle, allowing six hours of darkness during which the 'sky' is darkened. The lakes on the Presidium act as reservoirs, independent from the water storage tanks in the wards. The water is purified to prevent bacteria from one species infecting another, due to the difference of amino acid structures that could prove fatal if ingested.

The buildings are built along the curving walls of the ring, and were meant to blend in unobtrusively with the surroundings. Located in the very heart of all this is the immense Citadel Tower, where the Citadel Council itself meets and holds audience with ambassadors from the various governments.

There are shops, restaurants and recreational facilities, serving the wealthy residents who live and work throughout the sector.

It was considered to be a blessing to be among the elite, powerful and wealthy individuals who call the Presidium but to Kitaira Howard, it felt more like a prison than home. Unlike her grandmother, who never voiced her suspicion of her mother and her sudden arrival before her son, her uncle had always voiced his suspicion of her and never hides it from anyone. So her uncle decided to take Kitaira, not wanting her to get hurt by the secrets that would eventually be revealed about her mother; but by doing so, he had separated Kitaira from her twin sister and her older brother. And Kitaira had never been in contact with her family on Mindoir since then.

Kitaira had learned about her parents’ death, her brother’s missing body and her sister’s survival by watching the news. Kitaira was at first stunned by her parents’ death and her missing brother but she was revived that her twin was alive and well, even though she didn’t know where her sister is living now as the news reporter had failed to mention even that to the reviewers, though it was only Kitaira who had wanted to know where her sister was, so she was deeply disappointed by this.

She turned off the shower and stepped out of the shower stall; Kitaira walked towards the window and stared at the fog-covered surface. She reached out and laid her palm against the surface. She wiped the water and fog away from the surface, revealing her face in the mirror’s surface.

Kitaira stared at her reflection as she laid her hands against the sink.

Kitaira has an exquisite, delicate, triangular-shaped face with a definitive jaw line and accentuated cheekbones, similar to that of a professional model. The eyes were disturbing, with an exotic slant. Such vibrant green eyes in that fair face, so green and clear, like the jade stone. The lips were soft and full and the nose straight and slender. A thick fringe of pale lashes framed those extraordinary eyes, while blond brows arched gently above them. Her hair was blond, too, in loose surrounding her face, giving her fair skin a glow like polished ivory.

But a closer look at her hair revealed that it wasn’t just blond, there were pure white streaks in it, like snow. Giving her blond hair a fairer look than most true blonds, almost like a silver-w.

She has a curvy yet slim build, like a professional model. She is tall and lean, athletic, with a long neck.

Her long bangs are parted to the right and cover her eye. She wears her beautiful waves in a ponytail with a fringe of wavy bangs pass her jaw to soften her jawline.

She was beautiful, possessing that ethereal beauty that the asari only possess. Kitaira knew of it because she gets many double or triple takes by all species, but she choose to ignore it because Kitaira simply doesn’t want that, or any, type of attention on her.

Kitaira’s eyes flickered to her bangs and let out a sigh before she reached up and pushed her bangs to the side, revealing her closed eye. Kitaira let out another sigh, as if to steel herself, before she slowly and timidly started to open that eye.

Once fully opened, her right eye revealed to be a milky white color with no iris and pupil.

Kitaira stared at her image in the mirror and examined her face with her good eye. Her uncle and Kitaira learned that her eye was deformed thanks to the experiments done to her in order to bring out the raw power of the naturally born biotic ability she possessed but in doing so, Kitaira lost the use of her right eye forever. But her right eye has revealed another function even after losing the ability to see.

Kitaira glanced down as a pale blue-purplish mist-like light started to form around her body and looked back at her reflection. She watched as her right eyelid closed over the milky white eye and as soon as she did, the pale blue-purplish mist-like light vanished.

Kitaira and her uncle eventually learned that her right eye, when it was open, was somehow the key to activating and channeling her biotic powers. So Kitaira learned to keep her right eye closed at all times and covered with her bangs, she had never cut her bangs and had always kept them long.

Kitaira reached out for the towel hanging from the towel rack and started to dry herself. _‘I don’t know why I was even in that lab or how long I have been in that room.’_

Kitaira caught a glimpse of a birthmark on her inner right wrist and held it up before her face as she stared at it. It was a shape of a lotus bud, unusual in shape but beautiful none of the less. She rubbed the birthmark with the pad of her thumb as she thought about her twin sister once again.

They both had biotic powers and to this day, no one knew how they got it when neither their grandmother nor their mother was exposed to element zero during their pregnancy. The doctor back at Mindoir was bluffed by it and there was no way of explaining the abnormal of how they both got exposed to it.

Kitaira shook her head as she thought back to all the arguments that were caused because of it. Her uncle didn’t believe that her mother didn’t know a thing about it as he knew for a fact that his sister was never around element zero outbreaks, even when she was pregnant with her son in her womb. So many arguments had broken out through the house to the point that it became too suffocating to live in that house because of all the arguments and the distrust in that household.

Her uncle decided to take Kitaira from her family, not wanting her to go through the deception within that house. But no one ever bothered to ask Kitaira and her twin sister what they had felt about this, being separated from each other. 

Kitaira sighed as she wrapped a large towel around her body and grabbed another towel to dry her thick and lush hair. _‘Adults get to wrap up in the wrong and the dislike towards each other to ever worry how the children would feel about this.’_

Kitaira got dressed and started to comb her hair as her eyes drifted towards her terminal in the room. She titled her head to the side as she realized that it had been two months and her uncle still hadn’t contact her which was strange because ever since she was kidnapped, her uncle had always made it a habit of calling her whenever he was on duty and he had never ever failed in calling her.

Kitaira walked over to the terminal and started to type on it, bringing up the Alliance comm and connected to it in order to get in contact with her uncle.

A woman’s voice answered on the first ring.” Hello? Can I help you?”

Kitaira spoke up.” Yes, I’m looking for Captain Nathaniel Howard. Have you seen him?”

Woman answered her.” No, not since he deployed. May I ask whose calling?”

But Kitaira ended the call, not wanting to get any further in the conversation when she already got what she wanted. He hadn’t contact Alliance brass not since he deployed for tour but that was two months ago and it was now worrying Kitaira. Her uncle never failed in keeping contact with the Alliance and he never once failed in calling her or giving his reports to his superior officers.

Kitaira glanced around the apartment and realized that she had no idea what happened to her uncle or if his sudden disappearance was connected to her or the kidnapping when she was a pre-teen. She had to get out of this apartment before they come after her because no one knew that she was even living here.

Kitaira immediately hurried to her closet and draws, tossing her clothes and items on the bed and grabbed her bag. She hurriedly started to pack her clothing and items into the bag; she didn’t even want to stay here even for a second. She didn’t know if those men knew where she was but she knew instinctively that this apartment was no longer safe and she had to go to the one place she felt safe.

Her Doctor’s house. That was the only place that Kitaira knew that she’ll be safe and secure.  She just hoped that she would get to her in time.

Kitaira closed her bag and hurried out of the room and ran down the hall. She only stopped before the door so that she could look at the apartment that she had shared with her uncle and knew, deep down, that she would never see this or her uncle ever again.

Kitaira lowered her eyes and turned back to face the door, she opened the door and stepped out of the apartment and never looked back.

 

**Anadius**

**Cronos Station**

**Cerberus**

 

Cerberus Agent Jericho Thomason walked into the large room that only the selected few were allowed to enter and speak to the Illusive Man in person and he was one of those few. He spotted the Illusive Man facing the window, staring at the large dying red sun that was before the viewport.

Jericho stopped behind him.” You called me, sir?”

Illusive Man turned his chair around to face his top agent and said.” Those batarian slavers have failed in their mission to get the first puzzle piece.”

Jericho crossed his arms over his chest.” Oh? What happened?”

Illusive man sighed as he stood up.” It would seem that an Alliance patrol vessel was passing by and caught them in the middle of the act.”

Jericho angrily sighed.” So we lost the gem?”

“On the contrary,” the Illusive Man smiled as he said,” she’s at the Citadel.”

Jericho raised an eyebrow at him.” And why are you making it sound like its good news, sir?”

Illusive Man smiled, explaining as he handed him a report that was given to him by one of his agents.” Because the second puzzle piece has been found on the Citadel as well. The puzzle is finally completed.”

Jericho opened the file and look down at the photo of the girl in the report. He smiled as he looked at the Illusive Man.

“The two puzzle pieces haven’t been together at the same location since they were thirteen.” Jericho said,” what are your orders, sir?”

Illusive Man looked at him as he took the report from him.” Go to the Citadel and get those pieces.”

Jericho glanced towards the vid of a lab in one of Cerberus remote bases. “How’s the specimen doing that I managed to secure at Mindoir?”

Illusive Man looked at the vid as well and smiled. “Even though we didn’t get those two pieces, we did get the third piece, so we didn’t come out of that business deal empty handed.”

Jericho looked at him. “But we lost the father in that raid and the grandmother has long been dead.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure with the latter’s death.” The Illusive man said as he sat back down on his chair.

Jericho turned to face him. “Does that mean she’s alive?”

The Illusive man shrugged his shoulders.” I wouldn’t be sure until I’ve seen that corpse. Have one of your men go to Mindoir and dig it up so we can compare its DNA with hers.”

Jericho inclined his head towards the Illusive Man. “I’ll have someone do that while I’ll attend the Citadel matter.”

Illusive Man took a long drag of his cigarette before he said. “And hurry, that other group is bound to hear about this and will get in our way.”

 

Citadel

The Ward

 

Mikaela glanced up and around her, suddenly feeling nervous and wary. She didn’t like the constant feeling of being watched and followed. She was now in a shop that sold hair products and Mikaela wanted to get some before she head home, and that excited and relaxed feeling she had had all but vaporized when she started to get that creepy feeling again.

Mikaela grabbed a brush that she had been eyeing but stopped when she caught sight of the birthmark in her inner lift wrist and stared at it as her hand held the brush. It was a shape of a lotus bud, unusual in shape but beautiful none of the less.

Mikaela rubbed her birthmark as she thought about her sister, not like she never thought about her, she always did.

Mikaela was separated from her twin sister because of the dark and well-kept secrets within her house and her uncle had taken her from them, cutting all contact between Mikaela and her family and them. She honestly didn’t know if she hated her parents and uncle or not for that decision but after that, her parents never mentioned her twin sister’s name nor did Mikaela and Damien; they both didn’t want their parents to suffer for losing their daughter.

But Mikaela knew that they had suffered. How could they not when they are constantly reminded of it just by looking at Mikaela’s face. They were identical twins in both appearance and personality, so it probably hurt her parents deeply whenever they saw her face, seeing the daughter they would never see again.

Mikaela grabbed the brush from the stand and walked towards the counter, her angry flaring to life. _‘Well, they wouldn’t have been suffering if they had had allowed secrets to tear apart the family. It was never like that when grandma was alive; she kept the peace within the household.’_

Mikaela paid for the brush and grabbed the bag from the cashier, she walked out of the shop and headed towards her apartment building, as she walked through the crowd, her angry towards what had happened to Mikaela and her twin sister was boiling hot and about ready to erupted. It happened every time she thought about the adults in her life selfish nature, only thinking about the wrong done to them and not even thinking about the children’s feelings that are put in the middle of family fights and debates.

Mikaela was not really paying attention where she was going as she walked through the crowds and came to a stop once she reached an empty alleyway. Her hands clenched into fist and she slammed one into the wall next to her. Because of what had happened to Mikaela and her twin, she had vowed to never ever keep secrets from anyone around her, that she would always be honest to those around her, never telling lies.

Mikaela felt a painful tinge went up her spin as she dropped to her knees and clutched her wounded fist to her chest. _‘OW! I really need to learn how to control my temper if I don’t want to keep punching the walls in order to not punch some poor sap. Fuck that hurt!’_

Mikaela stood up and started walking again but as she rounded the corner, she slammed into a familiar turian as he came around the corner at the same time she did. She slammed her face into his chest as her arms were outstretched on either side of him.

Mikaela thought as she felt a blushed crept up her chest, up her neck, to her face and the tip of her ears as she kept her face in his chest. _‘You know…I think I oughta start paying attention from now on because this is starting to kill my ego.’_

Garrus asked the human girl when she didn’t pull away from his chest so that he was instead staring down at the top of her head.” Are you hurt?”

She muffled against his chest.” I don’t know, does ego count? Because that’s wants hurting right now.”

Garrus grabbed her shoulder in a motion to remove her from his chest but he stiffened up when she suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed even closer to him, so that he could feel her breasts pressed even tighter against him.

 _‘Don’t tell me I’m getting a fetish towards humans._ ’ Garrus inwardly groaned as he felt heat erupting through his veins and looked up towards the sky. _‘They’re so fragile-looking and ugly.’_

But as he looked back down at the human girl, Garrus couldn’t deny that she was beautiful in the same as the asari are beautiful in that ethereal way, in her looks and the feeling she gives off, but it was also mesmerizing and sultry in a way that the asari were not.

Mikaela felt the turian stiffen in her arms as she had wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her tighter to him, so that her breasts were pressed nice and smug against him. She buried her face against his chest so that he couldn’t see her face flushed red in embarrassment.

Mikaela thought. _‘I don’t think that’s the only reason why I’m pressed against him. I just want to be this close to him.’_

She suddenly winced when her wounded knuckles brushed against his armor, hissing in pain as a result to the sudden pain. The turian went tense once again and stepped backwards, removing himself from her embrace.

Mikaela inwardly pouted at the loss of the turian’s feel but she rejoiced inwardly when he reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it up to his face in order to examine the wound on her knuckles.

The turian C-Sec officer looked at her with his piercing blue eyes and asked. “What happened?”

Mikaela lowered her lashes over her iris, shielding them as she said. “I don’t want to talk about it, it’s embarrassing.”

Mikaela gasped as the turian suddenly yanked on her wrist, pulling her towards him so that she was pressed against his body with him holding her hand near his face. She flushed when she felt his free arm slowly slipping around her waist and lifting her up so that she was really being pressed and hold to him by only the strength of his arm.

 _‘Even though he’s built like an athletic swimmer, he’s obviously stronger than he looks.’_ Mikaela all but melted in his arms as she thought. _‘Who would have thought I would go all buttery when a turian is holding me easily up against him by using just one arm.’_

He looked down at her through hooded-lids as he asked again. “What happened?”

Mikaela said in a breathless whisper.” I got angry and slammed my fist into the wall.”

He titled his head to the side as he cocked a brow-ridge at her. “Do you always punch defenseless walls when you’re angry?”

Mikaela thrust her lower lip out in an angry pout as she started to wiggle in his arms, an attempt to break free. “Don’t tease me, I was angry at the injustice of the world around him and decided to punch the wall instead of punching some poor bystander.”

The turian flared his mandibles at her as he said.” Easy, you’re not exactly on the ground.”

“Eh? What are you talking about?” Mikaela asked as she looked over her shoulder and down, noticing now that she was being held up by his arm so that her feet were dangling in midair. “Oh, gravy, man! I’m five foot and seven inches and you’re holding me up with one arm as if I’m a four feet and three inches!”

The turian titled his head to the side once again, asking.” Are your human men not strong?”

Mikaela shrugged as she slowly rested her arms against his chest. “Not to the point of holding someone of my height and build with one arm as if I’m made out of feathers.”

Garrus’s eyes darted in an once-over at her figure and met her eyes once again. “I see nothing wrong with you; you seem….perfect…by my eyes.”

The human girl stared at him for a while before she smiled at him. “Thank-you, that’s very sweet of you. I never expected to be complimented by a turian.”

Garrus set her back down on her feet and stepped back when he noticed he was being hailed on his omni-tool. “I have to get back to work, be careful on your way home and don’t beat up defenseless walls on your way home.”

Mikaela smiled as she turned around as the turian walked passed her. “I can’t make any promise. I’ll have to defend myself if a wall causes me trouble.”

The turian laughed as he looked back at her over his shoulder. “Well, try not to. I don’t want to arrest you for fighting a wall, you’ll probably lose anyway.”

Mikaela bristled as she shouted. “Hey! Don’t act like you know that I’m going to lose in a fight!”

“You will if you pick a fight with a wall!” The turian shouted back as he around the corner.

Mikaela laughed as she turned around and walked towards her bag, picking it up and started on her journey back to the apartment, now in a better mood than she was before.

 

Citadel

Docking Bay

 

Raven stepped out of her ship once she had cleared customs and landed at the assigned landing bay. She looked around before she walked down the ramp and made her way towards customs office. Behind her was Goliath, the large krogan that Aria always have at her side, but the asari Pirate Queen allowed him to go with the human woman as she is her right-hand woman and someone she trust the most.

Raven made sure her hood was low enough over her face so that only her lower face was visible as she walked into the customs offices. She looked at Goliath and nodded her head at him as they both walked towards the human female officer at the counter.

The woman looked up and spotted the large krogan with the human woman with him, addressing Raven. “Hi, are you both new to the Citadel?”

“She cannot speak; her voice box was destroyed in a batarian slaver attack.” Goliath stepped over, speaking for Raven. “We’re on shore-leave and decided to come here to sight-see.”

The woman nodded her head, accepting that lie as the truth. “Very well, you two made the right choice of coming here. Just let me check your identity so you two would be able to continue on.”

Raven hide a grin as she watched the woman typed on the screen before her. She had to admit she was impressed by how well the woman handle seeing a krogan larger than the average krogan and it take a lot to impress a woman of Raven’s talent and class. She didn’t even bat an eyelash at Goliath’s movement and his explanation before Raven could even look at him. Heck, she even accepted it quicker than Raven and Goliath thought she would. But then again, it wouldn’t be shocking as the batarians have hated humanity due to the humans’ continuous colonization across the Verge.

The woman looked up from her screen and smiled up at them.” Okay, your identity is cleared. So you may enter the Citadel. Have a wonderful day.”

Raven inclined her head towards the woman as she and Goliath walked away. They both entered the elevator and Raven looked back at the woman to see her speaking to another customer.

Goliath waited until the door slid shut before he asked. “What’s wrong?”

Raven looked up at him from the corner of her eye and whispered, barely moving her mouth. “I don’t trust that Customs Officer.”

“She did seem to accept my lie too easily and it didn’t take along for us to get the go-ahead to enter.” Goliath’s eyes darted down to her and looked back up. “What are you thinking?”

“I think she’s doesn’t work for C-Sec, but I can’t be certain which of the two groups that she works for.” Raven said as she placed her hand over her mouth in thought. “But if I have to guess, I think it’s the group who has been giving me the most problems.”

Goliath actually looked at her fully this time. “You mean the group that not even the Alliance and the Council are aware of.”

Raven nodded her head as she and Goliath stepped out of the elevator.” Yeah, and that means that this mission just got a whole lot complicated, so keep your guard up and your senses about you. We don’t want to get fucked as we are handling our missions.”

Goliath nodded his head as he followed Raven out of C-Sec. “I understand, ma’am.”

 

The C-Sec Customs Officer waited until her last customer lifted before she stood up and headed towards a private terminal in order to get in contact with her boss.

She typed onto the screen of the terminal and waited for her boss to answer as she looked around her. She turned back when she heard the chiming and saw a shadowed masculine figure on the screen.

The woman inclined her head to him as she said. “Sir, she just arrived here on the Citadel.”

The man said as he lowered his head. “I see. So, she’s not really dead as I had suspected and that our most prized treasures are on the Citadel since she arrived there.

“Has the assassin reported back with that man’s death?” The Shadow man asked.

“Yes, he reported that he had carried out his mission and is waiting for further instructions.” The woman reported, remembering the drell assassin.

“Tell him to come to the Citadel. There’s an old human doctor that needs to be taken care of.” The Shadow man said.

The woman asked. “What about her?”

“I needed the two males and the three females alive.” The Shadow man said, angry now even though his tone was calm. “But since I last both men back on Mindoir due to that damn group interference, even though one is considered missing, all I have are the three females and I need their genetics and bloodline in order to carry about the doctor’s legacy.

“So I need those three alive and well.” The Shadow man finished. “They are very important research materials.”

The woman inclined her head to him. “Understood. I’ll relay the message to the assassin, sir.”

She waited until he canceled the call before she called the assassin to relay the mission to him.

 

**Presidium**

**James Apartment**

 

Johanna James stood in before the oven, cooking lunch, when she heard a chime coming from the door. She looked up and over her shoulder, glancing upstairs when she remembered that her daughter had lifted in order to catch up with her childhood friend.

Johanna turned off the oven and wiped her hands on the apron tied around her waist as she walked towards the door. She opened the door and was surprised to see one of her patients standing before her, when she never told any of her patients where she lived. However, this one was a different matter as Johanna personally brought her and her twin sister into this life back on Mindoir.

Johanna step to the side, allowing her entrance into her house. “Kitaira! What are you doing here?”

Kitaira stepped into the house, explaining as she set her bag down. “My uncle hasn’t called me, Doctor James.”

Johanna worked as one of the head doctors at Huerta Memorial Hospital, making an reputation for herself of taking patients no matter the species and could handle an angry krogan by giving him an single icy glare. She had little patient towards disrespect and will respond by giving the same disrespect given to her.

Johanna didn’t have any problems in attitude when she had Kitaira and her sister as her patients, and even than when Kitaira came to the Citadel to live her uncle, the girl never gave her any form of attitude.

Johanna grabbed her bag and grabbed her elbow, leading her towards the couch.” What do you mean? Doesn’t he call you every day?”

“He does.” Kitaira said as she sat down. “I haven’t gotten a call from him in the past two months, Doctor James. And that has never happened before.”

Johanna sat down next to him. “So you’re worried that what ever happened to him may be connected to your kidnapping four years ago.”

It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. Johanna knew that Kitaira was worried that her uncle’s disappearance may be connected to the incident four years ago and the older woman knew that had caused Kitaira and her uncle many problems with her skittish and wary nature towards humans and with his over-protective and worrying nature towards his niece.

It took Johanna two months to gain Kitaira’s trust whenever her uncle brought the girl in to get examined after all the brutal experiments done to her at the hands of a mad man. But eventually Kitaira returned to her old bubbly and gentle personality, treating Johanna how she used to.

Johanna reached out and timidly ran her fingers through the girl’s hair, watching for any signs of discomfort and fear but when she found none, the doctor was comfortable enough to run her fingers fully through the teenager’s hair.

“You can stay here, Kitaira.” Johanna said as she stood up and picked up her bag. “I’ll find out what has happened to your uncle.”

Kitaira went quiet as she thought over Doctor James’s offer and found that she couldn’t accept it. She’s afraid that what ever happened to her uncle could happened to Doctor James and she really didn’t want to make her childhood friend into an orphan when she had learned that she had lost her father, grandfather and stepmother back on Mindoir.

Kitaira stood up and took her bag from Doctor James. “I have to respectfully decline your offer, Doctor James. I’ll be able to handle myself since my uncle lifted behind enough money for me to live on my own and live a comfortable life.”

Kitaira watched Doctor James watch her and was almost worried that the doctor wouldn’t let her go, but she watched Doctor James gave a sign and handed her back her bag. Kitaira took the bag from her and looked up at the doctor as she came into her personal space and cupped her cheeks with the palm of her hands.

Doctor James touched her forehead against Kitaira’s and closed her eyes as she sighed once again. “I don’t know whether to praise or curse that famous stubbornness that you all seem to inherit from your grandmother.”

Kitaira reached up and grabbed Doctor James’s hands, squeezing them with hers. “But this stubbornness has allowed me to survive when others would give up.”

Doctor James smiled down at her and kissed her forehead before stepping away. “….alright, be careful and call me when you come across something you really can’t handle.”

Kitaira smiled back at her as she walked towards the door.” I will but I have that famous stubbornness that will prevent me from seeking help.”

Doctor James set her fists on her hips as she said. “Yes, I have met that famous stubbornness before, as well as that famous temper; I have worked under your grandmother in the Alliance.”

Kitaira laughed as she walked out of the apartment unit.” Bye, Doctor James!”

Johanna waved at her as she stood at the entryway. “Bye, Kitaira! I’ll see you at your next doctor appointment.”

Johanna closed the door and sighed, leaning against the door as she rubbed her temples. She really didn’t know whether to praise or curse that famous stubbornness, she had to deal with it when she was a doctor working on the battle cruiser under the command of the famous Admiral known among the Systems Alliance officers as Amazon, simply due to her fighting prowess and her height and body figure.

As much as Johanna respected her ex-commanding officer, sometimes the Admiral had a habit of handling missions like how she handles all missions: with recklessness and replying solely on her wit and skills.

Many people from the broad wanted the Admiral to be dismissed from her rank but feared that without her incredible winning record that the Alliance would suffer greatly. So they kept her and never actually interfered with her until they deemed it absolutely necessary. The Admiral was able to keep her rank, ship and crew simply because she was good at the task given to her by the broad and she never ever lose in a fight….until the First Contact War, until she was captured by a turian General and kept as a War Prisoner.

Everyone within the Systems Alliance was shocked by her first lose but they were more shocked that the Admiral had teamed up with the enemy in order to track down a mad man and a traitor to the Alliance and Earth. When they were able to find him and finally kill him, the war had ended and the Admiral was escorted to Arcturus Station by the turian General.

Johanna was given the orders to examine the Admiral and found that while her commanding officer acted like her usual tough and sassy self but there was a sadness and loneliness in her as well and the doctor was worried that the broad and the other Admirals would notice this when they would see her. But luckily, the Admiral was able to hide her sad and lonely aura, saving the Admiral her career and rank.

Johanna wondered when she went back home to her family if any of them had caught the difference in her emotions or did they choice to ignore it as the Admiral tried to adjust to a peaceful life on the farming colony of Mindoir. But something, deep down, told Johanna that her granddaughters would have been able to catch the difference, as the Admiral and her granddaughters were pretty close, since it was the Admiral who was the first to know about the girls being biotics.

Johanna sighed and headed back into the kitchen. _‘This is why I don’t feel comfortable leaving Kitaira alone out there when there’s someone after her. I just have to pray very hard that she would be safe.’_

Unbeknownst to the doctor, she had been watched the entire time, since Kitaira had come and when she had lifted.


	3. Chapter Three: Secrets of the Shepards.

**Chapter Three**

**Presidium**

**Human Embassy**

David stepped out of the elevator and made his way towards the Human Embassy where Ambassador Udina was waiting for him to give them the full report and discuss it.

He should have known that Admiral Sinclair wouldn’t send them a full report or come here in person. And David can correctly guess as to why.

Lachlan hated Udina and he hated the Citadel, it was something everyone knew in the Alliance. He never hides it, he always made sure that the broad never sent him to the Citadel, nor did he want to deal with the politicians there.

David looked around him and smiled as he thought that Mikaela would love to see this.

The Presidium had been designed to evoke a vast parkland ecosystem. A large freshwater lake dominated the center of the level; rolling fields of verdant grass ran the length of its bank. Fabricated breezes, as gentle as spring zephyrs, caused ripples on the lake and spread the scent of the thousands of planted trees and flowers to every corner of the Presidium. Artificial sunlight streamed down from a stimulated blue sky filled with white puffy clouds. The illusion was so perfect that most people, including David, couldn’t distinguish it from the real thing.

The buildings where the business of government was conducted had been similarly constructed with an eye to natural aesthetics. Set along the gently curving arched that marked the edge of the station’s central ring, they blended unobtrusively into the background. Broad, open walkaways meandered back and from building to building, echoing the landscape of the carefully manufactured pastoral scene at the Presidium’s heart---- the perfect combination of form and function.

David planned to asked permission to bring Mikaela here so she could see the crown beauty of the Citadel. He really wanted to see that excited and awe glow when she sees something that impresses her very much.

David entered the embassy and spotted Aurora sitting at the front desk, she was talking on the comm as he came closer and she waved him inside once she became aware of him. David knowledge Aurora by inclining his head to her as he walked passed her to the door.

Ambassador Donnel Udina looked up as David stepped through the door and the Lieutenant was surprised to see Admiral Steven Hackett standing by the Ambassador’s desk.

David immediately snapped a salute towards Steven. “Admiral Hackett, sir! I didn’t know you would be here!”

Steven faced David, saying. “At ease, Lieutenant, I’ll like to hear your report in person instead of reading it.”

David glanced out the window just as he opened the file and saw that the artificial sun was setting, giving the sky as beautiful red-gold color across it. But now, ever since Mikaela came into his life, he sees it now as dull and not so breath-taking.

But David wasn’t the only one who was reminded of Mikaela as he looked at the sunset, a certain turian Spectre was also watching the sunset forming as he too waited to give his report.

 

Turian Spectre Saren Arterius stood on the balcony of the Turian Councilor Sparatus’s office as he watched the red-gold color of the sunset forming across the artificial sky and it immediately reminded him of the human girl, Mikaela Shepard. And now that he’s looking at the sunset before him, Saren sees it as lacking compare to the vibrancy of her red-gold hair.

Saren was vaguely aware that the human girl was constantly on his mind more and more, anything red or gold reminded him of her and he didn’t like it. Especially these feelings he had ever since he started on this mission to learn more about her and he did cover more information around her and her family but only found more mystery and secrets.

Saren turned away from the sunset and walked towards the couches as he and the Councilor waited for three more to join them to discuss the inform that Saren had managed to uncover.

Suddenly the door opened, and three turians joined them, one was young while the other two were older.

The three turians they were waiting for was Fellow Spectre and his protégé, Nihlus Kryik, the head of Citadel Security, Executor Venari Pallin, and General Adrien Victus.

Sparatus looked at each of them and walked over to stand before his desk and among them as they walked towards the couches to sit on them.” Let’s us being the debriefing.”

Saren inclined his head to him before he turned to face the others, saying,” I’ll start from the beginning, on Mindoir…..”

 

“And that’s to conclude my report on Mindoir…,” David Anderson said as he closed the report on his omni-tool. He looked up at Steven Hackett and Donnel Udina before him, Hackett standing before the window and Udina sitting behind his desk.

Admiral Hackett looked at Ambassador Udina and said,” Lieutenant Anderson, we need to discuss something about your report.”

David felt a frown appearing on his face as he looked between Admiral Hackett and Ambassador Udina,” Did I miss something on my report, sir?”

Admiral Hackett shook his head, “no, your report is to the letter, Lieutenant. We just got more information from Admiral Sinclair.”

David asked,” What type of information did he get, sir?”

“It’s about the survivor of the Mindoir attack,” Admiral Hackett said,” Mikaela Shepard.”

David frowned even more; he didn’t know that Admiral Sinclair was doing such a thing. From what David was told by Saren (and it took a lot of discipline in David’s part to not beat the crap out of the turian Spectre), that Admiral Sinclair had not express any form of interest in the girl. She was in the care of the ship’s doctor and she had stayed with the woman the entire time that she was on that ship, until David arrived to escort her to the Citadel. So he was confused as to what had spurred such an interest in Mikaela from The Iron King Admiral Lachlan Sinclair.

Then again, David had felt uncomfortable when he had learned that Saren had actually seemed to be following Mikaela around the ship and the Lieutenant had actually started to wonder if the turian Spectre had formed an obsession towards her, but he had immediately wiped that thought from his mind as he knew firsthand how deep Saren’s hatred is towards humans.

Ambassador Udina said,” and this information we received from him only clouds the girl in more mystery, Lieutenant Anderson.”

David looked at Udina and asked,” What do you mean?”

“Well for starters, it’s her last name.” Admiral Hackett said,” it’s not her paternal grandfather’s last name; it was her paternal grandmother’s maiden name.”

Now that got David’s full attention, when someone went out of their way to change it to their last name to their wife’s maiden name then that means they have something to hide and to keep secret.

David asked,” how did Admiral Sinclair learn of this?”

“Well, he had overheard Mikaela telling the doctor that her paternal grandfather had fought in the First Contact War.” Admiral Hackett explained as he sat down on the chair across from David,” It wasn’t him, it was his wife. Admiral Regina A. Shepard.”

David’s brows went high on his forehead when he heard that name. Admiral Regina Andrea Shepard, otherwise known as the Amazon. She was a spitfire and brutally honest woman who didn’t give two cents what her crew and fellow officers thought of her and her ways of running her crew and handling her missions. But she was super protective of her crew, living to sacrifice her own life in order to protect them and her loyalty to her crew had earned their absolute respect for her, she even earned the respect and love of a turian General, who was her match in every way. Well, that last part was a rumor that had started when she returned from being a war prisoner but Admiral Shepard never denied it as no one was brave or stupid enough to ask her, she had a habit of punching someone who asked the wrong questions or said something stupid to her.

Ambassador Udina continued on, breaking David from his thoughts,” her husband had taken her maiden name as his when they got married.”

David asked, looking over at Hackett.” Any idea as too why? And what is her husband last name?”

Admiral Hackett and Ambassador Udina looked at each other before looking back at David and he immediately knew that he wasn’t going to like this answer.

“We don’t know,” Admiral Hackett said,” his background, birth certificate, everything is gone. Wiped completely clean from the records.”

David asked,” is there any information telling us that Admiral Shepard had any help in that, like how Admiral Grissom did with Lieutenant Sanders’s background information?”

Ambassador Udina shook his head,” No. Admiral Shepard is innocent in that regard. This happened before he met her.”

Admiral Hackett turned back to David and said,” but there’s more. It’s about her mother.”

David immediately sat up, interest and concern now. Mikaela and her mother were close, her mother was the reason why Mikaela grew up to be so responsible and polite to anyone and everyone, to the point where it didn’t matter what race they were from.

Admiral Hackett continued, noting David’s action.” It would seem that her mother and Admiral Sinclair were related…They’re brother and sister.”

David’s eyes widen at that and he said,” Admiral Sinclair and Mikaela’s mother were brother and sister? I didn’t know.”

Ambassador Udina spoke up,” neither did Admiral Sinclair until he ordered a blood test on all three of them.”

Admiral Hackett explained to him,” It would appear that his mother was kidnap by group of fanatic scientists when she was pregnant with his sister.”

“Any idea what they were experimenting on both mother and daughter?” David asked

“No,” Admiral Hackett said, shaking his head,” we don’t. All we know that somehow Mikaela’s mother managed to escape from them and she somehow arrived on Mindoir where she married Admiral Shepard’s son.”

David leaned back into his chair, finishing his sentence.” And the rest is history….Whatever happened to Admiral Shepard?”

Admiral Hackett cleared his throat before he said,” it would appear that she died in an accident in 2157, two months after the end of the First Contact War.”

David thought about Mikaela and whispered,” Mikaela would have been four at the time.”

Admiral Hackett nodded his head, agreeing with him.” Yes, she was.”

Ambassador Udina said,” as you can tell, there’s more questions than answers about Mikaela and her family history and background.”

David stood up and asked,” anyone else looking into the mysterious and secretive Shepards?”

Both Hackett and Udina wore uncomfortable expressions on their faces and David felt his stomach drop as he asked,” Who is it?”

It was Admiral Hackett who answered him,” it’s Saren. It would appear that he learned more about the situation with Mikaela and her family then Admiral Sinclair did.”

David couldn’t stop the sigh that slipped out of him. Just what he needed, a turian Spectre who despise humans to sniff around Mikaela like a dog on the hunt. He need to make sure that Mikaela and Saren never cross each other’s path or someone going to get hurt and he’s putting his credits on Mikaela doing the hurting.

Admiral Hackett spoke, snapping David from his thoughts.” You are dismiss, Lieutenant Anderson.”

David saluted him,” Yes sir,” and hurried out of the office, thinking, _‘I need to get Mikaela before something happens…mainly her coming across Saren.’_

 

“And that’s all I can report to you at this moment.” Saren said, finally finishing his report.

General Victus looked at Councilor Sparatus,” I didn’t know that Shepard was actually her last name and not her husband’s.”

Councilor Sparatus said, looking at him.” I didn’t know either. But this information about that group hiring the slavers to attack Mindoir in order to get the girl, is that correct?”

Saren nodded his head,” I am confident that the information I was able to get from the Captain is correct.”

Why would someone lie when they were being tortured by someone like Saren? He tortured the Captain until he passed out and he stopped when he did, in order to continue the torture once the batarian had regained conscious. The batarian finally broke, tried of the endless torture done onto him, both mentally and psychically.

A certain human-survivalist organization had hired him and his crew to attack Mindoir under the cover of getting Mikaela Shepard, whose last name belonged to her paternal grandmother and not her paternal grandfather. Even though he had uncovered the fact that Mikaela and Admiral Sinclair were niece and uncle, there was still more questions rather than answers.

General Victus said with a sigh,” I think we’re going to get more questions rather than answers as we continue to search for answers to this mystery.”

Executor Pallin said,” I wonder if Admiral Sinclair was doing the same thing that Saren was doing.”

Saren shook his head,” I doubt that. Admiral Sinclair never express interest in the human girl when she was on his ship, he never even spoke to her.”

Councilor Sparatus said, looking at Executor Pallin.” We need to keep an eye on her, just in case they send someone after her.”

Executor Pallin nodded his head,” I agree. I’ll send two of my top officers to keep an eye on her.”

General Victus cautioned him,” But be mindful of her, if she’s anything like her grandmother, then you’ll have a real hellion on your hands.”

Councilor Sparatus looked at both Nihlus and Saren,” I want the both of you to uncover more that you can on her grandfather. We need to know who is his and why he had scrubbed everything out.”

Both Nihlus and Saren answered,” Yes, sir.”

Nihlus and Saren walked out of the office and walked down the corridor, Saren quickly spotted the human man that he was force to work with, Lieutenant David Anderson, walking out of the human embassy and heading towards the elevators.

Nihlus spoke, drawing the older turian’s attention to him,” So what’s this human girl like?”

Saren asked,” What do you mean?”

Nihlus looked at Saren and said, noticing the coldness in his voice.” I mean about her personality and appearance. There’s not a picture of her attached to the files.”

Saren casted Nihlus a sideways look before he said,” she’s a human, Nihlus. There’s nothing special about them.”

Nihlus’s mandibles moved as he watched his mentor walk ahead of him, surprised by that short and clip response from him. He didn’t understand or know the reason behind that type of response as Saren had no problems talking ill of a human he had met or rescued, but this time, it was almost like Saren didn’t want to discuss the girl. And that piqued Nihlus’s interest in the human girl, he wanted to meet the human that had Saren only responding short sentences.

Nihlus tapped his copy of the report against his chin as he thought. _‘But I wonder how different this human girl is if she could get Saren to act like that. She has to be one hell of a human girl.’_

 

 _‘Shit! I hope I’m not coming down with a cold, so that better be caused by someone talking about me.’_ Mikaela sneezed as she stepped into the apartment, thinking. _‘Then again, do I really want people to talk about me? I get enough of it from the news.’_

Mikaela glanced down at the bags she was carrying and sighed, _‘I may have bought too much.’_

Mikaela took the stairs two at a time and entered her bedroom, sitting the bags on the bed. She took everything out of the bags and set it up around her room.

Just as she was throwing her new clothes into the machine, Mikaela raised her head to look towards the door when she heard a chimed at the door pulled her attention away from starting the cleaning of her new cloths and looked over her shoulder at the door. Mikaela started the cleaning machine and walked towards the door; Mikaela pushed the button and the door slide open, revealing the last face she expected to see, especially on the Citadel.

Jessica James, her only childhood friend, saluted Mikaela as she smiled and winked.” Hey, Kaela. Long time no see.”

Mikaela pushed the button again and the door slide closed, shutting Jessica out.

Jessica’s voice sounded through the closed door as she banged on the door.” You can’t just close the door when you see me, you bitch.”

Mikaela opened the door and glared at her.” Coming from the girl who got me into more trouble than I did by myself, you really shouldn’t be calling me a bitch.”

Jessica smiled at her friend as she walked into the apartment and started to explore.” Nice pad you got here. I heard that you’re living with an Alliance officer.”

“Come on in, Jessica, so we can have a nice chat.” Mikaela mumbled under her breath as she closed the door looked at her friend, speaking louder.” Yeah, Lieutenant David Edward Anderson. The brass thought it was a good idea for him to gain guardianship over me until my eighteenth birthday.

“You weren’t on Mindoir when the raid happened, Jessica?” Mikaela asked, deciding to change the subject from herself.

Jessica looked at her friend, aware that she had purposely changed the subject, but answered her question anyway.” I was leaving with my mother now on the Citadel, grandpa thought it would be for the best to live with her.”

Mikaela blinked at her, confused at first but smirked when she remembered what incident she was referring to. “Yes, that incident where you somehow herded an entire herd of cows into Mrs. Medousa’s house.”

Jessica shrugged her shoulders. “Hey, everyone may have not wanted to agree with me but we were all alike mind that she deserved that.”

Mikaela sat down on the couch by leaping over the head of the couch. “So….how did you get that entire herd into her house, Jesse?”

Jessica smiled at her friend. “Sorry, trade secret. I can’t tell you or it will get back to my mother.”

“But I think my grandpa knew how I did it.” Jessica added as she rubbed her chin in a thoughtful gesture. “He probably couldn’t raise me anymore properly so he sent me here to live with my mom.

“But now I can’t go and visit my grandfather anytime now since the batarians killed him in that raid.” Jessica continued. “Damn batarians.”

Mikaela mumbled as she drew her legs to her chest. “Yeah, damn batarians.”

Jessica looked at her friend and sat down next to her, throwing her arms around her. “You know what you need, Kaela? Someone to talk to you without showing you any sympathy or pity and I’m just the person for the job.”

Mikaela looked at her. “Let’s stay in; I don’t think the Citadel is ready for us just yet.”

Jessica stared at her as she followed Mikaela up the stairs. “You make it sound that we’re up to something.”

Mikaela looked back at her friend.” Weren’t we up to something all the time back at Mindoir?”

Jessica opened her mouth to deny it but clamped it shut once she realized she couldn’t. “Okay, okay. You’re right in that regard.”

 

It took David four hours to get back to his apartment unit and walked into his unit. Traffic was a total hell at this hour as everyone wanted to get home or get to a club.

He looked up towards the second level when he heard girls’ laughing.

David frowned as he thought, making his way towards the staircase. _‘Girls? I only have one girl, where did this second girl come from?_ ’

David stopped before Mikaela’s door and knocked on it, waited for her reply.

Mikaela called out through door. “Come in!”

David opened the door and saw the other girl sitting on her bed with Mikaela. “Who’s your new friend, Mikaela?”

Mikaela laughed as she explained. “She’s not my new friend, Cap; she’s my childhood friend from Mindoir. This is Jessica James and she’s been leaving with her mother on the Citadel for four years now.”

 _‘So Mikaela does have a friend.’_ David thought as he watched Mikaela laughed at something Jessica had said. _‘I’m glad that she has someone she can turn to. She may have actually need her friend in her great time of need.’_

David looked at them, asking. “Are you girls’ hungry? I’ll make dinner for us.”

Mikaela nodded as Jessica spoke up. “Yeah, that sounds good. Just let me call my mom and tell her that I will be staying over for dinner.”

David said as he walked out of the room.” Alright, I’ll let you know when dinner is done, girls.”

“Alright!” Mikaela called out after him as she turned back to her friend as Jessica called her mother on her personal comm.

 

Admiral Steven Hackett found himself in a very unpleasant situation and he really did not want to be in it. He had just received a long overdue report from a Captain who was out in portal in the Traverse System. Steven didn’t realize this ship and her crew had vanished until he got the report from her Captain.

According to the report, the crew all had experience a strange case of blackout and memory loss. They all blackout and didn’t remember where they were at the time. All the crew was counted for but save for one:

Doctor Nathaniel Howard.

The doctor was reported to be missing and no one knew what happened to him or where he was at the time of the blackout.

This worried Steven greatly. Doctor Howard was considered a brilliant man and was the most skilled medical mastermind in the history of the Systems Alliance.

Steven opened up Doctor Howard’s file and read through it, he stopped suddenly when he noticed the photo of the doctor. He touched the photo and brought it in front of him on the screen. He tapped it again, which made the photo bigger and he zoomed in for a closer examination of the eyes.

The doctor’s eyes were very unusual yet unique, marking them as one and only, in color. They were a light jade green, and at the outside of each iris were a dark emerald green.

Steven only knew one person, a woman who was ranked as an Admiral and fought alongside him during the First Contact War, who had those color eyes.

Steven stood up, turning off his terminal and headed towards the door. It slide open as he approach and his secretary looked up as he stopped before her desk.

Steven was already speaking before his secretary even had the chance to. “I want a full scan on both Admiral Shepard and Doctor Howard. I want it done in secret and I want it done quickly, tells the doctor to give me his find as soon as he gets it and in person.”

“Which doctor should I make this request for, sir?” the Secretary asked.

“I want Doctor Clark King do this.” Steven said as he turned back and went back into his office.

 

**King Clinic**

**Zakera Ward**

 

Dr. Clark King waved as his patient had turned to wave at him as she walked back home with her mother by her side. He lowered his hand once the little girl and her mother disappeared through the crowd, letting out a sigh that he was holding as he turned and walked back inside his clinic.

He turned on the ‘Closed’ sign, switching off the ‘Open’ sign in the progress. Clark started to tidy up his clinic before he headed into his office in order to make a report of the little girl’s medical treatment.

Clark looked up and around his clinic, satisfied with the cleanness of his clinic before he turned and headed into his office. As he walked passed one of his examining rooms, Clark failed to notice a large dark figure coming out from one of the dark rooms and crept up behind him on silent feet.

Clark muffled his startled scream when something grabbed him from behind and covered his mouth with their hand. He learned that his attacker is a krogan by the feel of him and the krogan picked him up and carried him the rest of the way to his office.

The doors opened at their approach and Clark noticed that his large office chair was facing the wall now and he realized that it meant that someone was sitting in that chair and he didn’t even realized that someone was even in his clinic, let alone a krogan being in one of his rooms.

Clark hissed in pain as the krogan dropped him to the ground and the old doctor raised his head to glare at the krogan but stiffen in fear once he got his full look at the krogan who carried him here.

He was the largest krogan that Clark had ever seen and the old man had seen a lot of krogan in his day. Well over eight feet tall, he had to weigh at least five hundred pounds.

Clark whimpered as he scooted away from the krogan. “What do you want from me?”

A feminine irresistibly low and throaty voice came from the turned chair. “He doesn’t want anything from you; it’s me who wants something from you, my dear doctor.”

The old doctor looked up and towards the chair. The chair started to turn but to the doctor, it seemed to turn in slow motion, revealing the person in a slow and painful motion.

Once the chair had fully turned around, facing him completely, Clark gasped in shock horror at the woman sitting on his chair. She crossed her legs and folded her hands on her lap, clasping her fingers together.

“You!” as all Clark could gasp out at the last person he thought he would ever see again after he had helped make her disappear completely.

 

Claire Gilbert, Admiral Hackett’s secretary, waited for the doctor to pick up and was beginning to worry when the Doctor King finally picked up.

“Yes? What is it?” The old man asked as he stared at the young woman.

“Doctor King, I’m Claire Gilbert, the secretary of Admiral Hackett.” Claire said, being polite despite the rudeness of the old man before her. “I am calling with a request from the Admiral.”

“What does the Admiral want of me?” Doctor King asked.

“He wants you to run a full and through scan of Admiral Shepard and Doctor Howard.” Claire explained, “He wants it done fast but in secret and you are to bring your finds to him in person.”

Doctor King glanced away before he sighed and looked back at her. “….Very well, I’ll get on it as soon as possible.”

Claire inclined her head towards the old doctor.” I’ll rely your message to the Admiral. Have a good day.”

She closed the comm and stood up to deliver the message to Admiral Hackett, deciding to ignore the odd behavior of the old man and considered it to be the cause of old age.

 

Saren made his way back to his apartment unit and walked passed a human C-Sec officer woman. He ignored the fact that the human woman had turned around to look at him as he had walked passed her and continued on his way.

 _‘Humans are not skilled at hiding the fact that they are examining someone.’_ Saren thought bitterly as he felt her eyes still on him as he walked through the open entranceway of the elevator and kept his back towards her as the door slide shut.

He leaned against the wall as the doors finally slide shut and he let out a sigh of relief as the elevator started to move up.

Saren covered his mouth with his hand as he thought over what was revealed in the meeting with the Councilor. _‘So that human girl’s last name is actually her grandmother’s maiden name but why would the husband take the wife’s last name instead of her taking his?_

 _‘According to what I have read and I really did not enjoy reading about human culture, it’s always the woman who takes on the man’s surname and not the other way around. It’s been a part of human culture since the dawn of time.’_ Saren thought as he lowered his hand and pushed away from the wall when the doors slide open to his floor. _‘So Admiral Shepard must have a good reason to have her husband take on her last name instead of taking his._

 _‘And who would have the power and authority to erase all information on the husband?’_ Saren thought as he made his way towards his living quarters. _‘Even if she didn’t have anything to do with this, why would Admiral Shepard keep this type of information to herself and not inform her family? I have to believe that she’s more involved in this situation than we are led to believe.’_

Saren entered his quarters as his thoughts suddenly turned to a certain human girl who bears the same last name as the human Admiral. He set his things down and went to sit down on his chair.

 _‘That human child is surrounded by secrets, mystery and deceit. I almost pity her when I do learn the truth about her family.’_ Saren thought as he leaned back into his chair and stared out the window.

 

Kitaira Shepard sighed as she stepped through the entranceway of her quarters, having just narrowly dodged a asari who was returning from her job at Chora’s Den. Kitaira was almost certain that the asari was going to spot her outside her and her uncle’s room but the asari had dropped something and she was able to get the door open and sneak into the house before she even straightened up once she picked up her fallen item.

Kitaira rubbed her forehead as she made her way towards her room. She took out items once she reached her bedroom and started to return them to their original places.

Kitaira stopped suddenly and brought a photo up to her face as she smiled when she gazed down at the photo of her grandfather holding the infant Kitaira and her twin sister in his arms. He had died after this picture was taken, almost as if he wanted to pass on, happy now that he was able to take the first but last picture with his granddaughters.

Kitaira set it back in its place but found herself stopping once again when she took out a picture, the only one, of herself and her twin sister. They were both thirteen at the time and it was taken two months before her uncle took Kitaira to the Citadel to live with him.

Kitaira and her sister were identical in both facial appearance and body-shape but their hair was the only thing that was different on them. She had white-blond, almost like a white-gold color, while her twin had red-gold, like the sunset on Earth or Mindoir. As kids, Kitaira was called ‘Moonrise’ while her sister was called ‘Sunset’, due to their hair color, and their personalities match the color of their hair perfectly. Kitaira was usually described to have a cold personality while her twin was described to have a fiery personality. Flame and Ice.

She smiled at the picture before she returned it back to its place and went to sit down on her bed when a chime from her terminal caught her attention. Kitaira made her way towards the terminal and accepted the call.

Kitaira found herself looking at her childhood friend from Mindoir, Cristina Shelton, on the other end. She was the same age as Kitaira and had to move away to the Citadel when they were nine-years-old. Kitaira was happy to have been reunited with Cristina and another childhood friend form Mindoir, Jessica James.

Kitaira smiled at Cristina.” Hey, Cris. What’s up?”

Cristina crossed her arms over her chest. “I hope you’re ready to go back to school in two weeks, Kit.”

Kitaira grimaced at that, getting a smirk from Cristina. “Not really. I am grateful that they canceled school in order to grieve for those who died on Mindoir but I am not really looking forward to going back to school.”

Cristina snorted as she said. “Yeah, especially when little Miss Princess Paula Jones has a hard-on for you because you were getting popular with the fellas.”

“I don’t know why.” Kitaira said, “It’s not like I wanted the boys to start flirting with me.”

“I know.” Cristina said, “I went through the same situation as you when I entered this school with the perfect little bitch.”

Kitaira smiled as she looked at her friend. “Knowing you, you made her feel stupid and unimportant simply by talking to her.”

Cristina shrugged her shoulders. “What can I say? I have a way with words.” Then she suddenly smiled as she said. “To bad your twin’s not here, she would have totally put the bitch in her place.”

Kitaira grimaced once again.” Yeah, I almost glad she’s not here. Mik would totally make Paula remember that she’s Queen Bitch of the Universe.”

Cristina started to laugh as if she had pictured that scenery. “She totally would! Man, Mik doesn’t care who fucks with her as long as she gets to kick their asses all over the place.”

Kitaira glared at her friend. “You know for a Libra, you are a very non-balanced person. Whatever happened to all that fairness, justice, and balance?”

Cristina said. “When it comes to Paula, it gets hanged.”

Suddenly Cristina looked away and a dark glare came across her face as Kitaira was starting to hear arguments coming from her friend’s end.

Cristina turned back to Kitaira and two-fingered salute her. “I have to bounce, see you in two weeks, doll.”

Kitaira kept her face neutral as she waited for the screen to go black. Once it did, she allowed her face to crumble into a sad expression for her friend when she allowed herself to realize that Cristian’s parents were arguing now and they somehow put her friend in the middle.

Kitaira felt bad for her friend but she knew that Cristina would be able to handle herself and wouldn’t appreciate any sympathy from anyone, not even from Kitaira herself.

Kitaira stood up and made her way towards her bed once again, she fell down face-first and laid there, closing her eyes to get a much needed sleep.

 

Cerberus Agent Jericho Thomason was able to get passed customs without any problems, his fake identity allowed him to get in easier than most because it was an Alliance ID, which got him in faster than the rest of his men. But Jericho was fine with that; he knew he had to get this done without rising any suspicion of the C-Sec officers.

He meet the eyes of his men and silently told them to spread out and search for the two last pieces, the Illusive Man’s most prized gems, so that they could grab them and leave without anyone  noticing.

But according to information that he had gathered, one of the gems had gotten the attention of the Council and the Alliance and he knew that getting to her would be even more difficult but Jericho was confident that he would be able to separate the girl from her protector and he would be there to grab her when she does.

 

**Citadel**

**Wards**

**Anderson apartment**

**Morning, Next day**

 

Mikaela slowly opened her eyes when she heard David moving around downstairs. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she looked around her room and spotted Jessica sleeping at the end of the bed. She smiled as she remembered that Jessica and her had stayed up near the crack of dawn, talking and laughing, until David came in and told the girls to settle down or he’ll have to open a can of boot camp on them.

The girls eventually went to sleep, happy that they were able to hang out like in the old days.

Mikaela climbed out of bed and made her way, silently, out of the room and head downstairs.  She spotted David before he spotted her. It looked like he was rushing like he had to get to an important meeting.

Mikaela spoke up, asking him. “Are you expected somewhere?”

David answered her without looking up. “Yeah, apparently something came up that requires my presence in this meeting.”

Mikaela asked, point blank.” Did someone die?”

David frowned at Mikaela, finally looking up.” Really? Why do you think someone died?”

Mikaela shrugged her shoulders as she leaned against the couch. “Because that’s the one thing that would make anyone rush around like chickens with their heads cut off.”

“Well, that’s morbid.” David said as he ruffled Mikaela’s hair, walking passed her to walk out the door. “Have a good day and make sure you and your friend eat breakfast.”

“Aye, Sir!” Mikaela snapped him a sharp salute. “Good luck at the meeting! I hope nothing unsuspecting happens when you get there!”

David laughed. “I highly doubt that I would need luck for attending a meeting and nothing unsuspecting ever happens in meetings between Ambassador Udina, Admiral Hackett and me, Kaela.”

 

**Presidium**

**Council Tower**

 

If David didn’t know any better, he would have thought that Mikaela was a natural at jinxing things as soon as she said them.

David sighed as he kept himself from rubbing his temple at the group gathered at the meeting. _‘I really need to have a talk with Mikaela about keeping her mouth shut. I swear that kid jinx anything that comes out of her mouth.’_

David looked at around the room and couldn’t help but be worried when his eyes took in the presence of Saren Arterius, Nihlus Kryik, Adrien Victus, Councilor Tevos, Irissa, Councilor Valern, Esheel, Councilor Sparatus, Quentius, Septimus Oraka, and Venari Pallin, Tarquin Victus, Jondum Bau and Tela Vasir standing to one side of the room. David was standing with Ambassador Udina as they waited for Admiral Hackett to come with someone he had to pick up before he came here.

David thought as he looked around him. _‘I wonder what Mikaela would have say in a situation like this? She would probably say ‘throw in a krogan and you got yourself a party!’ That girl never takes anything seriously.’_

Ambassador Udina spoke in angry causing David to look at him. “This better be important for Admiral Hackett to go and collect this person while we wait for him. I have better things to do.”

David thought as he noted the looks that the Ambassador had received from the asari, salarians and turians. _‘I guessing you’re not the only one who doesn’t want to be, waiting for Admiral Hackett, but this has to be important for him to go and get this person.’_

The door suddenly opened and Admiral Hackett stepped through the entryway with someone that David hadn’t seen since the First Contact War.

David walked over to the old man standing behind the Admiral. “Doctor King! It’s been a while since I saw you!”

Doctor Clark King looked at David and blinked owlish at him before realization dawned on him. “David Anderson! I haven’t seen you since you served on _The Valkyrie_ under the leadership of Admiral Shepard.”

David smiled as he shook the doctor’s hand. “Yeah, during the First Contact War, I served under her leadership for two months before I was forcefully transferred. One hell of a woman and commanding officer.”

The doctor smiled and David knew that the doctor could hear the complete admiration and respect in his voice as he spoke of Lady Admiral. Not that the doctor could fault him on it, Admiral Regina Andrea Shepard was one hell of a woman and a soldier, she took no bullshit from anyone and had no troubles telling anyone what she thought of them without any thought to her reputation and career.

Doctor King nodded his head in agreement. “Yes, Admiral Shepard was one hell of a woman and Admiral. She certainly didn’t care if she made enemies in the long run.”

“I don’t think it even mattered to her if she even made allies as well, Doctor King.” A woman said, alerting David and the others to the presence of a human woman standing behind Doctor King.

David frowned at her, “I’m sorry but who are you?”

The woman smiled as she held out her hand. “I’m Doctor Johanna James, I was Doctor King’s protégé during the First Contact War and when he retired, I replaced him as _The Valkyrie_ ’s doctor.”

David felt a smile spread across his lips as he finally remembered her.” Ah, I remember you now. You were assigned as his protégé to keep Admiral Shepard in line.”

Johanna laughed. “And I failed in that regard. Admiral Shepard was a difficult woman to keep in line but she made it even more difficult to hate her completely. She certainly had this charm about her that you couldn’t help but admire her as the woman she is.”

Steven smiled as he entered the conversation. “I remember the Admiral very fondly. I found it was good for both of our health to let her do things her way.”

Johanna smiled as she crossed her arms. “Yeah, Admiral Shepard always had this habit to make everyone think about their health and hers when it comes to the way she handles her missions.”

Ambassador Udina came over, crossing his arms as he asked. “What is this about, Admiral Hackett? And who are these two?”

David noted the look that they all passed between as they were remind that the only one who didn’t know the late Admiral personally was Ambassador Udina.

Admiral Hackett cleared his throat as he faced the Ambassador. “I apologize for that, Ambassador. It’s was a reunion of sort between us all who served under or with the late Admiral Shepard.

“Anyways,” Admiral Hackett said as he gestured towards Doctor King and Doctor James. “This is Doctor Clark King and Doctor Johanna James. They both served under the Admiral but only Doctor James has known them long as their personal doctor back on Mindoir.”

Ambassador Udina seized both doctors up. “Yes, I remember these two. They were assigned to watch the troublemaker.”

Johanna arched a brow as Clark shook his head, but it was David who spoke. “Admiral Shepard wasn’t a troublemaker, sir. She just had her own way of handling things and the brass found it to ease off her when it comes to certain missions. And for the record, they weren’t assigned to her, they were requested by her.”

Admiral Hackett explained when Ambassador Udina looked at him. “Admiral Shepard heard about them and requested that they both were assigned to her services.”

Councilor Tevos spoke up finally.” Pardon my interruption, but I suggest we should begin this meeting as you are the one who called it, Admiral Hackett.”

Admiral Hackett looked at the doctors and gestured for them to move towards the head of the table. “Yes, you are right. We should get this meeting started.”

Admiral Hackett went to head of the table with the two doctors as the Councilors and the others took their seats at the table. He waited for them all to the settle in before he started the meeting.

Admiral Hackett recalled the events that led to him calling to this meeting. “I had received a strange report from _The Demeter_ yesterday. It’s relied the fact that the crew had all suffered a blackout and memory loss at the same time.”

David frowned. “Memory loss? Blackout? Where were they when this occurred, sir?”

Admiral Hackett sighed as he said. “As the result to probably both memory loss and blackout, the crew had no memories of where they were at when this had occurred. But the Captain had also added that one of their crew members was missing.

“Doctor Nathaniel Howard was reported missing when they arrived at port and realized that no one had seen him since awakening from the blackout.” Admiral Hackett continued as he pulled up a picture of Doctor Nathaniel Howard.

Saren asked as he folded his arms over his chest. “And how is this important, Admiral Hackett?”

Admiral Hackett looked at him as he explained. “Because it’s not the fact that he disappeared that caught my attention, it was the color of his eyes that did.”

David frowned as he narrowed his eyes to get a better look at the doctor’s eyes. “What about his eyes, sir?”

“It’s because his eyes color that had made me aware that his last name was not his real name,” Hackett nodded his head at both Doctor King and Doctor James and stepped to the side. “But I’ll let Doctor King explain.”

Doctor King took a deep breath before he started speaking. “I did a through scan of both his genes and…” He tapped on his datapad and the photo of Admiral Regina Shepard appeared on the large screen before them. “Admiral Shepard.”

Councilor Valern sat up as he asked. “What did you find?”

Councilor Tevos asked. “And what was so important about the eyes?”

Doctor King tapped on his datapad and zoomed in on the eyes of both Doctor and Admiral. David looked up at the eyes and felt his own widen in shock realization as he found himself staring at Mikaela’s eyes.

Their eyes both were a light jade green, and at the outside of each iris were a dark emerald green.

David spoke in a shock voice. “My god, Doctor Howard is actually a Shepard.”

Doctor King revealed to them. “He was actually Admiral Shepard’s older brother. It would seem that this shade of green eyes is only common to the Shepard genes. So anyone you see with these eyes is a Shepard.”

Nihlus asked, “What else did you find?”

Doctor King looked at his protégé. “I had contact my protégé so that I could get helped with my findings.”

Doctor James step forward. “We had found something very unusual about the genes of the Shepard family, a mutation, if you will, to their genetics. Our research found that the Shepards have far greater genetic diversity compared to other species and to the humans as well, with more peaks and valleys.”

Councilor Sparatus frowned. “What does that mean?”

Doctor James came to stand at the head of the table as Doctor King stepped to the side. “My findings on the members of the Shepard family as their personal doctor have revealed that they all possess the 0-type blood.” She noted the confused expressions on the aliens’ faces and she explained. “The 0-type blood can donate red blood cells to anybody. It’s the universal donor.

“Anyways, due to the mutated genetic diversity and 0-type blood, it is revealed that they are compatible to all races.” Doctor James said, “It would seem that they are the only humans who have this unique genetic mutation and it would stand to reason that they would be able to eat non-human food.”

Adrien spoke up, rubbing his chin in thought. “Yes, that would explain why Admiral Shepard was able to eat our food fine after getting ill for that one minute after devouring the food.”

Councilor Tevos looked at Councilor Valern and Councilor Sparatus before looking at the Doctors. “Has this mutation ever occurred before in humans, Doctor?”

Doctor James shook her head. “No, this genetic mutation is strictly unique to the Shepard family only; therefore, they are the first humans to possess this mutation in our history.”

David crossed his arms as he leaned back against his chair. “Could this be the reason why Admiral Shepard was targeted when she was a war prisoner by that scientist?”

Doctor King stepped forward, causing Doctor James to step back. “Yes, but I do not know how Doctor Isaac Wayne knew about Admiral Shepard’s genetic mutation.”

Ambassador interrupted. “Yes, yes. This is all very interesting but we really should get back to why this missing doctor would take a false name while working for the Alliance.”

“Yes, of course,” Admiral Hackett looked at the doctors both before he said, “I learned that he wasn’t the only one to take a false name while serving for the Alliance.”

David frowned as he looked at Admiral Hackett. “Who else?”

Admiral Hackett tapped on his omni-tool and brought up two pictures of an older man and a younger man on the screen and David felt his body tense as he recognized the two men in the picture. He didn’t need to look at Saren to know that the turian Spectre had immediately taken interest in the men.

“This is Richard Shepard, the father of Mikaela Shepard, and Damien Shepard, her older brother,” Admiral Hackett said without even looking at David. “While serving for the Alliance, Richard was known as Captain Richard Thornton and Damien was known as Lieutenant Damien Davidson.”

Councilor Valern asked, “Do you have any idea to why these two men would take up false names?”

“It’s because of Admiral Shepard.” Admiral Hackett said, without any hesitation or doubt in his voice.

Councilor Sparatus asked, “What makes you so sure that she was behind this?”

Admiral Hackett crossed his arms as he answered. “Because Admiral Shepard was a mother before she was a soldier, she would make sure if her son and grandson was to join the Alliance, that they would never be tied back to her. It was her way of protecting them against her enemies.”

Ambassador Udina folded his arms over his chest and looked at David. “You weren’t aware of this, Lieutenant Anderson?”

David looked at the Ambassador and said. “No, Mikaela hasn’t really talked about her family to me. I think that wound hasn’t fully healed yet and she doesn’t want to reopen it again by speaking about her family situation.”

Admiral Hackett spoke up, cutting off Ambassador Udina’s next words. “And I don’t want Mikaela to know about this. She won’t be happy with us opening her deceased grandmother, father’s and brother’s files.”

David nodded his head. “I agree. Something tells me she’ll punch us if she ever heard about this.”

Ambassador Udina frowned at David. “What makes you so certain of that?”

David looked at him. “Because she probably has that famous Shepard temper.”

“Shepard temper?” Ambassador Udina asked, frowning even more. “What is that?”

“Let’s just say that you’re better off never having to face that temper in person, Ambassador Udina.” Adrien chuckled as he and the rest of the non-humans stood up. “That temper of theirs could make a krogan’s look like a hanar.”

 

**Presidium Ring**

**The Embassies**

 

The drell assassin, Thane Krios, stepped off the elevator to the Embassies. He looked around and spotted two turian C-Sec officers coming his way. He quickly vanished before they became aware of his unauthorized presence in the Presidium.

Thane kept to the shadows as he made his way towards the living quarters of residents here, heading towards the connection to his targets. As he made his way towards the apartments, he pulled up the files on the two people who have a direct connection or not.

He looked at the two people on his omni-tool. An old man and a woman. The old man name is Clark King while the woman name is Johanna James. They were both doctors of elite skills and talents; their reputation made them one of the kinds among their peers and clients.

The old man didn’t have any known connection to the item that his employers are after but the old doctor has a connection towards the woman doctor, who, in turn, has a connection towards the item itself. His employers wanted them both out of the picture so that they could make their move. They also hired him to take out an Alliance Lieutenant in order to get to the final item but they really wanted the one located in the Presidium immediately and without delay.

Thane silently walked along the top of the service catwalk, keeping himself within the shadows and keeping an eye out officers who patrol this area of the Presidium.

 

Kitaira stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, and grabbed clothing out of the closet to get into. Once she was dressed, Kitaira walked over to her vanity and sat down on the chair. She picked up a brush and started to comb her hair.

Kitaira winced when she noticed how painfully still and quiet the apartment is how, thick with a nervous and scared energy within the walls. She stood up and headed towards her terminal, pushing buttons and bringing her playlist up. She flipped through her playlist and smiled when she spotted a song that her and her sister use to dance too all the time.

Kitaira clicked on it and Whitney Houston’s ‘I wanna dance with somebody’ blurred through the speakers in her room, and she started to twirl around her room just before she started to dance around her room. She grabbed her brush, jumped onto her bed and started to sing, using the brush as a mike.

Kitaira felt a smile formed on her lips as she started to dance to the rhythm of the song. It was her grandmother’s favorite song. When Kitaira and her sister were little, whenever their grandmother would return from tour, she would play this song and dance with her and her sister. It was something that both girls looked forward to when their grandmother returned. Even though their mother had signed them up for dance lessons, it was their grandmother who had started to fan that passion and love for dance, as she had loved dancing as much as she loved serving.

Kitaira walked up to her terminal and tapped a few buttons, allowing the song to be played throughout the speakers at the rest of the house. She danced down the hallway until she reached the living room. She suddenly stopped, feeling a pain forming in her chest as she felt a sensation she had become familiar with.

Kitaira didn’t need to look down at herself see a fine mist of blue light that was starting to form around her, she hurried to the terminal that was sectioned in the living room and quickly scan through her playlist until she found one that wouldn’t trigger such bittersweet memories of her grandmother and her twin.

She picked one and Enrique Iglesias’s ‘Bailando’, the English version, started to play through the speakers and Kitaira gave a sigh of relief as she felt her biotics started to fade, going back into its dormant state.

Kitaira tilted her head to the side as she listened to the lyrics of the song as her body started to move in time to the rhythm of the song. The rhythms were easy to pick up on and so Kitaira was following it like a pro, which she is.

Kitaira had a deep love for Spanish songs because of how lively the beat is and how graceful the Latin dancers are, it was probably because of her grandmother, whose mother was a Latin woman and a professional dancer to all Spanish dances.

Kitaira’s dancing brought her before the large window that was before the second living room and unknown to her, she had an audience that had become captive by how graceful, elegant and lively she moved.

 

Thane had spotted movement from the corner of his eye and quickly dropped to his knees, his eyes darting around him in order to find the source of the movement. When he found it, Thane was struck with awe when his eyes landed on the source of the movement.

It was a sixteen-year-old human girl, and she was dancing with such grace and elegance that could put an asari to shame. Her white-gold hair swayed and moved with each dip and turn of her body, her limbs moved with equal grace and perfection, like that of an assassin.

She was truly awe-inspiring in her movements and body-posture, Thane felt like he was watching a _siha_ , the name of a warrior-angel of the goddess Arashu, performing a battle dance.

Thane continued to watch the human girl until he remembered he had to find the apartment building that the item was located so he could stay and wait for the target to come into the house.

He clicked his omni-tool on and brought up the layout of the complex but what he found caused Thane to frown.

According to the layout, he was directly in front of the apartment where the item is but the human girl couldn’t be the target, she wasn’t an adult woman.

Thane raised his eyes to look back at the human girl and thought. _‘Don’t tell that the item is actually that human girl…..Why didn’t my clients reveal that the item was actually a human girl but instead referred to her as an item?’_

Thane than remembered the Alliance doctor he had killed and touched his hand to his chin in thought. _’Does that doctor I was hired to kill has some kind of connection towards this girl? I need to dig deeper into this before I continue this job…..But for some reason I have a bad feeling.’_

Thane moved away but unbeknownst to him, his movement had caught the human girl’s attention and she had moved towards the window in order to find the source of the movement she had caught out of the corner of her eye but didn’t find it after a few minutes of looking around. She moved away from the window in order to continue dancing.

 

**King Clinic**

**Zakera Ward**

 

Doctor Clark King opened the door to his clinic and quickly closed it behind him as the woman stepped out from around the corner of the hallway. He watched as she walked towards the examining table and sat down on it, crossing her leg over the other as she rested her hands on her lap.

It was only than that the old doctor noticed that Krogan was missing and he looked around for him, worried that he would appear out of nowhere.

The woman smirked as she said. “If you’re looking for Goliath, he’s not here.”

Doctor King asked as he looked back at the woman. “Where is he?”

Raven looked at him as she said. “I sent him out on an errand……what did you discuss at the meeting, my dear doctor?”

Doctor King had his back towards her when she had asked that and he flinched at that, his movement had caught her attention but he didn’t know that so he was hoping that she didn’t notice it.

Doctor King turned his head to look at her as he smiled. “It was nothing of importance, you shouldn’t worry.”

“Oh?” Raven said as she arched her brow at him, “….I see.” Then she stood up causing the old man to wince violently and moved away from her, which caused the black-clad woman to smirk down at him. “Why so paranoid, Doctor King? I wasn’t planning to do anything to you. I’m nearly getting up to go for a walk.”

Doctor King asked as Raven made her way towards the door. “Are you sure you want to do that? Everyone here thinks you are dead and those who know you are here.”

Raven looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. “I know how to stay within the shadows, Doctor. I have years to master that.” Then she turned her head away, mumbling under her breath. “Since you’re acting so strange, I have to uncover what you were discussing about in that meeting and I know just the person for that.”

 

**The Wards**

**Club Black**

 

Mikaela was starting to regret her decision to leave the apartment due to mass boredom and having to call Jessica to order to get rid of that said-boredom. Because now, Jessica was dragging her towards a club that was popular among the teenagers and adults alike.

Mikaela sighed as she tried to break free from Jessica. “Jessie! I thought I told you I don’t want to party!”

Jessica glared at her. “Come on, you need this and you know it! Besides Cristina is coming and she’s bringing someone you know.”

Mikaela stopped her struggling and looked at her.”  Oh? And who would that be?”

Jessica smiled at her and said in a sing-song way. “You’ll see.”

Mikaela thought as she glared at her friend. _‘I wonder if I’ll get into trouble if I kick her ass.’_

Jessica and Mikaela got into the club easily, due to them being both pretty (Mikaela really had to fight her urge to deck the bouncer at the door who stared at her breasts for far too long), both girls made their way through the crowd and Mikaela glanced up towards the upper level to see adults on the top level.

Mikaela thought as she followed after Jessica. _‘So adults on the top level, teenagers on the bottom level, huh? That’s a safe way of keeping us separating from horny adult males.’_

Mikaela quickly spotted Cristina standing by the bar with another girl standing by her, with her back towards the approaching Jessica and Mikaela.

Mikaela started to frown as she noticed that other girl’s hair color.

It was white-blond, almost a white-gold color. It reminded Mikaela of the full Moon back on Mindoir and the only person who had that color hair was her twin sister.

Her eyes widen as realization flushed through her as Mikaela shook her hand free from Jessica’s hold and ran towards the girl.

Mikaela opened her mouth and shouted. “Kitaira!”

The other girl stiffened as Cristina looked over to them and smiled as the girl slowly turned around, showing a face that Mikaela was never ever suspecting to see ever again. A face that was so identical to hers.

Mikaela threw her arms around her twin sister and hugged her to her. “I never would have guessed that I would see you ever again, Taira.”

Kitaira laughed shakily as she returned the hug. “Neither had I, Kaela, neither had I.”

Cristina smiled at the twins as she and Jessica high-fived each other. “So the gangs all together again, huh?”

Mikaela draped her arm around her sister’s shoulder as she smiled at her two girlfriends. “Yeah, looks like it.”

Jessica pumped her fist into the air. “So let’s party!!”

The girls sat on the stools at the bar and started to chat and laugh, catching up in order to making up for all the time they had spent apart from each other.

 

**Presidium Ring**

**James Clinic**

 

Johanna read the charts of her patient as she walked down the barely lite corridor of her clinic. She had just returned from the meeting with the Councilors and the higher-ups, and she found that her daughter had lifted, only leaving note telling her that she was going to kidnap Mikaela and drag her to a club in order to cheer her up.

Johanna sighed as she thought about how angry Mikaela would be by now. _‘I’m hoping that Mikaela doesn’t kill my daughter, I hate seeing Mikaela thrown into jail for killing my stupid kid.’_

Johanna opened the door to her office but stopped when she saw the woman sitting on her desk, as if she was waiting for her to return and she probably was.

The woman looked over at Johanna, waving the datapad in front of her. “I’ve been dead for years and now you people are checking out my family genes, a little delayed for that isn’t it?”

Johanna quickly closed the door behind her and looked back at the woman. “Damnit, Regina! I thought I told you don’t contact me in person.”

Admiral Regina Andrea Shepard, alias now is Raven, looked at Johanna with a frown on her face. “Don’t get your panties in a knot, I wasn’t seeing.”

Johanna stared at her and sighed, rubbing her temple. “When did you get here?”

Regina tapped her index finger to her chin in thought as she said. “I believe it was the same day that Mikaela was brought to the Citadel by Anderson.”

Johanna stared at her in shock before shouting at her, causing the older woman to lean away from her. “You haven’t been here for that long and you’re already acting reckless! You could have been seen anyone! Half the person who live here knows who you are, Regina!”

Regina flick Johanna’s forehead, causing the woman to cover the red spot. “Calm down before you burst something, Doctor James.” Regina placed her hands on her hips as she stared down at the petite woman.” and is that how you suppose to speak to someone of higher rank?”

Johanna rubbed her forehead as she looked up at the tall woman. “But, Regina, it’s too dangerous for you to be here! Considering the fact that I helped you faked your death.”

Regina rolled her eyes as she tossed the datapad towards Johanna, who barely had enough time to catch it, and sat down at the chair behind the desk. “Doctor James, I know what I am doing. Do you already doubt me?”

Johanna went silent when she noticed that look in the ex-Admiral’s eyes and felt a smile forming across her lips as she said. “No, Admiral Shepard. I apologize for doubting you, it was silly of me.”

Regina winked at her as she reached out and stroked her hair. “Of course, it was.” Then she taped the datapad that Johanna still held in her arms. “So what to explain to me what brought my genes up now?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Johanna nodded her head, immediately snapping into attention. “Admiral Hackett noticed that your brother and you have the same unique eyes color.”

Regina stared at her for a good ten minutes before she asked. “That’s it? That’s what got this research on my genes started? Just because our unique eyes color?”

Johanna laughed at the disbelief expression on her Admiral’s face before she continued on. “He also ordered Doctor King and myself to do a thorough research on your genes though, that’s when we noticed the mutation in your genes.”

Regina rubbed her chin in thought as she remembered something from the report.” The genetic mutation of the 0-type blood.”

“Indeed.” Johanna nodded her head in confirmation of her sentence.” It would seem that your bloodline is the only one who has this mutation, Admiral Shepard.”

Regina rubbed her head as she leaned back into the chair.” So that would explain why that mad scientist went after me during the First Contact War.”

Johanna added as she turned her back to her and put the datapad away. “That would explain why Kitaira was kidnapped.”

Regina turned her head towards her and asked. “What was that? What about Kitaira?”

Johanna turned around and flinched when she saw that scary gleam in her eyes. “Your brother brought Kitaira here when she was thirteen but two weeks into her staying here, she was kidnapped and it took the Alliance five months to find her and rescue her.”

Regina stared at her in silence before standing up and walking towards her, which caused Johanna to start walking backwards. “Why wasn’t that reported to the media or better yet kept in the information branch of the Alliance?”

Johanna answered. “Because everyone in the Alliance would have been alerted that Nathaniel was your brother and Mikaela has a twin sister.”

Regina halted mid-step and seemed to have thought it over before she took a step back and turned on her heel to head towards the door. “No, you’re right but it may be too late for that.”

Johanna hurried after her, following her down the corridor. “What do you mean by that?”

“Someone purposely sent those slavers to Mindoir in order to kidnap Mikaela.” Regina said as she stopped before the door. “But now that both Mikaela and Kitaira are in the same place, it’s the perfect opportunity for these groups to go after them and take them.”

“My god!” Johanna murmured out as covered her mouth. “Mikaela is living with an Alliance officer but Kitaira is now alone due to your brother’s death.” She hurried towards her terminal and started to dial the teenager’s number. “I should call her and have her live with me and my daughter for now on.”

Regina canceled the call and grabbed both Johanna’s shoulders and shook her slightly.” No, Doctor James, I don’t want you and your daughter to be put into danger.”

Johanna grabbed onto Regina’s wrists. “But we can’t leave Kitaira alone when there are people after her and her sister, Regina!”

Regina released her and urged her to calm down with hands movements. “I know, calm down! I have a plan.” The older woman waited until the doctor calmed down before she spoke up. “All we need to do is to figure out a way for them to stumble upon Kitaira’s existence but I don’t want her staying with Anderson, I’ll have it that Doctor Karin Chakwas to be her foster mother.”

Johanna frowned at her. “Why Doctor Chakwas?”

Regina ruffled her hair. “Because Karin would be constantly on the move due to her being a doctor and she wanted a protégé so Kitaira is the perfect choice for her.” She noticed the upset look on the doctor’s face and sighed. “Jo, I don’t want to put you and your daughter in any more danger than I have already placed you in.”

Regina tapped her forehead against hers. “I don’t want to see you go through the pain of losing a child nor do I want to see Jessie go through that pain of losing a mother.” She released her and opened the door, pulling the oversized hood over her face. “Don’t worry, Doctor James, you will never see me again, it was only this one time.”

Regina turned and walked out of the clinic, leaving Johanna to stand before the closing door, forcing the doctor to watch her mentor and friend leave her a second time.


End file.
